Utica’s Garcia, Elmira’s Donahue Honored As PGCBL Week 5 Players of the Week

Utica Blue Sox outfielder Devon Garcia (Ohio) and Elmira Pioneers right-hander Grant Donahue (Virginia) have been crowned Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League (PGCBL) Player and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, for Week 5 of the 2017 summer season.

In five games played throughout the week ending July 9, Garcia slashed an outstanding .526/.571/.842, with his slugging percentage and OPS (1.413) ranking second among all qualified batters in that span. The rising junior from Ohio University produced 10 hits in 19 at-bats, including three doubles and one home run, to go along with seven runs scored and seven RBIs. He also stole three bases and registered a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage while manning center field.

The Bowling Green, Ohio, native was a big reason why the Blue Sox posted a 4-1 record in the five games he started last week. Utica won all four games in which he amassed multiple hits and he twice recorded a season-high three hits. Garcia went 3-for-4 with two runs in a 12-1 victory over Onondaga on July 5 and went 2-for-4 with one RBI in a 7-6 win over Glens Falls on July 9. Sandwiched in-between those contests was a phenomenal day on July 6, when the Blue Sox swept a doubleheader from Adirondack. Combined, the 6-foot switch-hitter batted 5-for-7 with six RBIs and five runs. In the nightcap, he finished a perfect 3-for-3 with a grand slam in the fifth inning of a 14-7 win.

Garcia is the first member of the Utica squad to win a weekly award in 2017 and the latest to garner Player of the Week honors since teammate Taylor Olmstead (Southern New Hampshire) was recognized in Week 9 of last season.

In two starts for the Pioneers last week, Donahue finished with an unblemished 0.00 ERA and a 2-0 record. He was one of just two pitchers in the PGCBL to earn a pair of wins while ranking second in strikeouts (11) over the course of the past seven days.

Donahue, who has now won three consecutive starts after beginning the summer with a pair of no-decisions, opened his week with 5.0 scoreless innings in a 5-1 victory on the road over the West Division’s second-place team, the Geneva Red Wings, on July 3. He surrendered just two hits and one walk, while striking out seven. The 6-foot-1 righty from Berlin, Maryland, then hurled 5.0 innings of scoreless ball in a 14-10 win in Newark on July 9. Donahue once again gave up only two hits to go along with four punch outs, and his five innings pitched were the only frames in which the Pilots did not score a run in the contest.

A rising junior at the University of Virginia, Donahue becomes the second Elmira hurler to win the Pitcher of the Week award in 2017, following in the footsteps of Houston Roth (Ole Miss) and his record-setting strikeout performance.