This is the first installment of a two-part series on the new tenants of the Durham Athletic Park-the former home of the Durham Bulls. This week: the Durham Braves summer college baseball team. Next week: the Durham Dragons fastpitch softball team.
Welcome to the world of summer college baseball-a world characterized by a grueling 50-game schedule, hour-long van rides home crammed in with 10 of your teammates and crowds that number less than 100, even on dollar beer night.
For most, it may not be the ideal way to spend a summer, but for the players in the fledgling Coastal Plain League, nothing could be better.
The league began its inaugural season on May 30 and boasts six teams scattered across eastern North Carolina. The most notable parallel for the CPL is the Cape Cod League in Massachusetts, which has become the premiere summer college baseball league. The Cape Cod League offers most of the same opportunities, but the location and lack of playing slots had previously left many players with no viable summer league. The timing and geography of the new league is a perfect fit for the players from across the southeast who have come to play.
Perhaps the biggest benefactors of the new league are four members of the Durham Braves-current Duke players Jeff Becker, Stephen Cowie, Michael Fletcher and Vaughn Schill. The Blue Devil quartet has the best of both worlds as the players remain close to their second home, Durham, while competing for the Braves at night.
"It's just great that there is a league down here," Becker said. "I don't know what everybody would be doing, but it turns out to be a perfect situation for all of us."
Becker is attending summer classes during the day, while his three teammates are following the same road as many of the visiting players-working during the day. While such a demanding schedule on the diamond seems much like a job, it is entirely unpaid. The league does try to find a host family for each player to stay with as well as locate a day job.
Fletcher, a rising senior, has played mostly in leftfield and is the Braves' leading hitter thus far, batting .381 through Monday's 2-0 win over the Rocky Mount Rockfish. He has collected four doubles, one homer and eight RBIs in 12 games.
Becker was anchoring the hot corner for Durham until he fouled a pitch off his foot, sidelining him for several days. The rising junior is hitting .320 with 6 RBIs.
Schill, a freshman last year, played in only four games for the Braves before returning home to New Jersey to consult a physician about his injured back-suffered when he was hit by a pitch against Georgia Tech in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament last month. He is expected back soon.
Cowie, who will be a junior this fall, has dominated on the mound, registering two wins in three starts with a 1.89 ERA, surrendering only 12 hits in 19 innings.
"When the Duke guys have been healthy, they've been tearing it up," Braves head coach Steve Roof said. "Fletcher is a great kid-a real competitor. He likes to win, he can really swing the bat and he makes the plays; I couldn't ask for anything more. Becker was hot before he got hurt, and he should be fine when he gets back. And Cowie is one of the top pitchers in the league."
The four Braves are not the only Blue Devil links to the Coastal Plain League, as catcher Gregg Maluchnik and pitcher Brad DuPree both play for another CPL team-the Raleigh Red Wolves. Maluchnik, a rising junior, has played in all 13 games for the Red Wolves, registering a .280 batting average, two home runs and 11 RBIs. DuPree has followed up his strong freshman campaign at Duke with a 2-1 record and a 2.04 ERA in three starts for Raleigh.
Duke assistant coach Chris McMullan is also taking full advantage of the summer league by coaching the Rocky Mount squad.
"It's a little different than my normal job," McMullan said. "I'm the one making the calls, so now I know what it's like to be in [Duke head coach] Steve Traylor's shoes. I really enjoy it."
McMullan has also seen plenty of his Duke players as Rocky Mount has played Raleigh three times and Durham twice.
"It kind of hurts when they beat me, but it's good to see them doing well and playing the way they are," he said.
One dimension of play that does differ is the use of wooden bats, as opposed to aluminum in the college game.
Becker says that most of the players have made a smooth transition to the new bats, however, as evidenced by their productive offensive numbers. Aside from the heavier weight of the bat and slight variances in the way the ball comes off the barrel, the players have made a quick transition.
Two weeks into the season, things are going well on the field for the Braves, who lead the league with a 10-3 record. Off the field, the league has not drummed up large crowds as of yet, but those involved are optimistic about the rest of the season.
"The league is going to be fine," Roof said. "It's the first year, so they've got to get the word out more to the people. Once the fans realize that these college kids compete for no money, they work during the day-the fans will enjoy watching someone play simply because they enjoy baseball."
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