By NATE DISCAVAGE
SPARTANBURG, SOUTH CAROLINA — Over 700 miles separate the city of Spartanburg, South Carolina and the state of New York. However, the relationship between the two could not be any stronger. Every summer, baseball players from Wofford College pack their bags and head north to the Empire State to play in the New York Collegiate Baseball League.
While there are always plenty of universities consistently represented from New York—Buffalo, Niagara, St. Bonaventure and Binghamton to name a few—there are few out-of-state schools that constantly fuel the wooden-bat summer league in western and central New York. Wofford, however, expands the league’s footprint.
The Terriers, competing in the Southern Conference, have a strong connection with two of the NYCBL’s most dominant teams: the Hornell Dodgers and Oneonta Outlaws. For starters, their two coaches have a direct link to the league.
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Wofford head coach Todd Interdonato, who joined the Terriers in 2007, led the Hornell Dodgers to an NYCBL title in 2005 while also winning Manager of the Year.
J.J. Edwards, an assistant coach, played with the Elmira Pioneers and was named to the NYCBL First-Team in 2009. He was also an assistant coach for the Championship Series-winning 2011 Oneonta Outlaws.
After serving as an assistant with the team in 2006 and 2007, Burke returned to the team in 2011 as a full-time assistant coach. Edwards coached David Roney, a catcher for Wofford, in 2011 with Oneonta and reached out to Interdonato after hearing Roney talk about his love for the 161-year-old private institution.
This past season, the Terriers sent five players to New York. David Ehmen, Jordan “McClain” Bradley, Cody Miller and Adam Scott suited up for Oneonta while Max McDougald played with the Dodgers.
“We have had guys sent there in the past,” Ehmen, who finished fourth in the NYCBL Pitcher of the Year voting, said. “They all said they had a great time.”
Three of those “guys” stood out as some of the best players of 2014 in the NYCBL. Jordan Accetta (Hornell), Carson Waln (Oneonta) and Kody Ruedisili (Oneonta) all made their mark on the league.
Accetta won the 2014 NYCBL Pitcher of the Year and helped lead the Dodgers to a championship as he finished 9-0 with a 1.78 ERA in the regular season. Ruedisili batted over .300 and dazzled Oneonta fans with an outstanding glove in the outfield while Waln helped direct the talented pitching staff from behind home plate.
“Carson and Kody told me all about it,” Bradley, a top-five-finisher for NYCBL Player of the Year, said. “I was pretty excited to see what I could do.”
What good would a summer league be if the players did not take anything with them after returning to their school? That is a not an issue with Wofford.
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“If you send guys to Hornell or Oneonta, they are going to come back better,” Edwards said. “Most of our guys are young players, but the NYCBL gives them the reps they need.”
Waln and Ruedisili both batted below .150 in 2014. After one season in NYCBL, they hit well over .300 while earning significant playing time in 2015. The duo helped Wofford to a school-record 39 wins.
Matthew Milburn finished 5-1 for the 2013 NYCBL champion Outlaws. He led Wofford with 93-plus innings pitched in 2014. This past spring he notched a 10-3 mark. Milburn made seven appearances including six starts this summer with the Cotuit Kettleers of the Cape Cod League. He finished with a 2-3 record.
What is the secret behind the success of franchises like Hornell and Oneonta?
“They gave me a lot of freedom,” Bradley said. “It was a really relaxed atmosphere.”
Ehmen loved the local support as well.
“There were always a ton of fans who were really into the game.”
According to the NYCBL, Oneonta averaged 1644 fans per game as over 36,000 people entered through the front gate of Damaschke Field.
While Wofford has enjoyed the development of their players through the NYCBL, and those who have not seen the connection should check out the almost-daily interaction with their Twitter account (@WoffordBaseball), it is not a one-way street. The NYCBL has been a better league thanks to the constant influx of Terrier talent.
“Wofford is a great university and produces great kids,” Outlaws coach Joe Hughes said. “We’ve had nothing but great success having their kids here in the summer, and we really appreciate that connection.”
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Even if many of the players initially ask “where’s that” after learned they have been sent to either Oneonta or Hornell, according to the Edwards, they always leave better off than when they arrived.
Only time will tell what Bradley, Ehmen and McDougald will do next season with the Terriers. However, if the past is any indication of the future, Wofford should be in for a treat.
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