Trio of Diamond 'Dogs Earn All-Star Spots In College Summer Leagues
July 01, 2009 | Baseball
BOILING SPRINGS – Three Gardner-Webb players, Zeke Blanton,
O.J. McFarland and Matt Sapp, have earned spots on their respective
wooden bat league All-Star teams this summer.
Blanton (Forest City, N.C. / East Rutherford HS) has been
outstanding playing this summer for the Morganton Aggies of the
Southern Collegiate Baseball League, and will play in the circuit's
All-Star Game on July 11 in Spartanburg, S.C.
Blanton, an outfielder who transferred to Gardner-Webb last January
from the University of North Carolina, has played in 25 games for
the Aggies and leads the SCBL so far with a sizzling .426 batting
average (40-for-94). Blanton has added 23 runs, two doubles, three
triples and a home run in the leadoff spot while stealing 10 bases
in 11 attempts.
Blanton's OPS (on base percentage, plus slugging percentage) is an
eye-popping 1.019 this summer. In the Aggies' most recent game,
Blanton went 4-for-6 with four runs scored and a triple – and
stole home for his 10th bag of the year.
The former All-State and All-America selection at nearby East
Rutherford (N.C.) High will be a sophomore for Rusty Stroupe's
Runnin' Bulldogs next season.
McFarland (Boiling Springs, N.C. / Crest HS) and Sapp (Clemmons,
N.C. / West Forsyth HS) have been named to the All-Star Game for
the Hawaii Collegiate Baseball League.
McFarland, a rising senior catcher at Gardner-Webb, is batting a
solid .286 with a pair of home runs and five RBI in eight games
with the Waikiki Surfers. McFarland has scored six runs, rapped out
two doubles and has a .571 slugging percentage so far this summer.
His pair of home runs are tied for the HCBL lead so far in
2009.
Sapp, a rising sophomore at GWU, has heated up of late for the
Kamuela Paniolos in the HCBL, batting .347 with nine runs scored,
two doubles and six RBI in 12 games played. Sapp, a speedy
outfielder, has also stolen a team-high five bases in seven
attempts for the Paniolos.
