NORFOLK, Va. – A record number of Norfolk State baseball players are participating this summer in collegiate wooden-bat leagues on the East Coast. At the mid-way point of the summer season, many Spartans are enjoying solid campaigns with their respective ball clubs. Below is an update on how NSU’s players are faring this summer.

Coastal Plain League

A record six Spartans are playing this summer in the Coastal Plain League, one of the better-established summer collegiate leagues in the nation. Left handed pitchers Matt Outman and Devin Hemmerich are both pitching for the second straight summer with the defending CPL champion Peninsula Pilots in Hampton, Va., and both are among the top hurlers in the league. Hemmerich has not recorded a decision yet, but has posted a 0.45 ERA in 20 innings pitched. He has struck out a team-high 21 batters in those 20 innings and allowed just one earned run in six appearances, including three starts.

Outman, the 2015 MEAC Pitcher of the Year, is 2-0 with a 1.50 ERA in five appearances (four starts). Outman has allowed just 14 hits in 24 innings while striking out 18. Outman also earned the win with two innings of relief work last week in the Pilots’ exhibition victory over the Team USA collegiate national team. Outman was also chosen to participate for the CPL Select team of league-wide all-stars in another exhibition game just days later against Team USA.

NSU also has two pitchers playing for the CPL’s Martinsville Mustangs. Rising senior righty Cooper Jones serves as the Mustangs’ closer. Jones is 1-0 with three saves and a 0.71 ERA in 12.2 innings of work. He has struck out nine and allowed just eight hits. Rising sophomore righty Lane Ward is 1-2 with a 5.06 ERA in 26.2 innings of work.

Two NSU position players – rising seniors Kyle Vaas and Andre’ Moore – are playing for the CPL’s Petersburg Generals. Vaas, who has played first, third and designated hitter, is batting .263 with 10 hits and three RBI in 38 at-bats spread over 18 games. Moore leads the squad with seven stolen bases and is batting .222.

Futures Collegiate Baseball League (FCBL)

Michael Parmentier, a rising sophomore right hander, has been a big reason why the Martha’s Vineyard Sharks of the FCBL are in first place in their division of the New England-based FCBL. Serving as the team’s closer, Parmentier is 1-1 with two saves and a miniscule 0.65 ERA in nine appearances. Parmentier has walked just one and fanned 16 in 13.2 innings of work. He has worked eight scoreless appearances out of his nine times on the mound.

Valley Baseball League (VBL)

Another NSU reliever making great strides this summer is Alex Mauricio. Mauricio – who primarily played shortstop for NSU as a freshman this past season with only two appearances on the mound – is focusing more on pitching this summer, and with much success. The right hander is 0-0 with one save and a 1.74 ERA in six appearances for the Waynesboro (Va.) Generals of the VBL, which consists of 12 teams based in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. He has struck out 15 batters in just 10.1 innings of work, allowing eight hits and two runs.

Mauricio’s older brother Jonathan, who will be a junior right handed pitcher this fall for NSU, just recently joined the Staunton Braves of the VBL but has yet to appear in a game.

Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League (PGCBL)

Rising sophomore catcher Ismael Herrera is playing this summer for the Utica Brewers of the New York-based PGCBL. Herrera, one of the team’s three catchers, has played in 11 contests, scored six runs and is batting .143.

Elsewhere in the PGCBL, rising junior righty Matt Boone is pitching this summer for the Victor RailRiders. Boone is 1-0 in five appearances out of the Victor bullpen. After allowing four runs in his first appearance, Boone has worked four straight scoreless appearances and allowed just one hit in that span. For the summer, Boone has struck out seven batters in 4.1 innings of work.