DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - As the summer baseball collegiate leagues roll into the mid-season, the All-Star honors have begun to trickle out. Both leagues in the state of Florida recently released theirs, with each featuring a Bethune-Cookman player, as Jordan Thomas and Demetrius Sims each garnered honors in their respective leagues.
Playing in the Florida Collegiate Summer League (FCSL), Sims represented the FCSL North Team in the July 9 All-Star Game, batting 1-for-4 with an RBI. During the season, he’s been a steady force at shortstop for the Sanford River Rats, hitting .294 with 13 runs and five RBI, fielding at a .969 clip in 21 games for Sanford.
Sims (Ypsilanti, Mich.) will be a first-year player for the Wildcats in 2015 after redshirting last season, and will make a serious bid at replacing outgoing senior Shaun McCarty at shortstop. Coming out of high school, Sims was named the top shortstop in Michigan by Perfect Game USA.
Set to be a junior at B-CU in 2015, Thomas was named to the Futures Wood-Bat League (FWL) All-Star Team and will represent the North All-Stars in the July 11 FWL All-Star Game at Sanford (Fla.) Stadium. Thomas represents the Lake Mary Shockers and is hitting .277 with a team-leading 10 RBI and eight runs through 13 games as an Infielder for Lake Mary. Thomas played in 26 games for the Wildcats in 2014, including 16 starts.
The Futures Wood-Bat League (FWL) is operated by the Florida Collegiate Summer League. The Florida Collegiate Summer League (Florida League) is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization that operates six teams in Central Florida. Founded in November, 2003, the Florida League provides a place in the Sunshine State for top college players to play pure wood bat baseball against top-level competition in a festive community atmosphere.
The Florida League is partially funded by Major League Baseball and is one of ten leagues affiliated with the NACSB - an alliance of college summer wooden bat leagues that adheres to NCAA rules. The Florida League is recognized annually as one of the top college summer leagues in the country by Baseball America.