By PAUL GOTHAM
The Cleveland Indians announced Tuesday that Section V alum Ernie Clement will be one of seven representatives from the organization when the Arizona Fall League opens play on September 18th.
Clement is currently hitting .265 in 97 games with the Akron Rubbernecks of the Double-A Eastern League. The middle infielder has scored 46 runs while driving in 24. He leads Akron with 16 stolen bases and has struck out just 33 times in 389 at bats for a strike out to at bat ratio of 11.8.
A fourth round pick of the Indians in the 2017 MLB Draft, Clement is in his third full season in the minor leagues. He put together a 13-game hitting streak earlier this season that started in late June and ended in mid-July. He will be a member of the Mesa Solar Sox this fall.
The former Brighton Baron joins Christopher Bostick (Aquinas) and Danny Mendick (Pittsford Mendon/Monroe CC) as active former Section V players who have suited up in the AFL. Bostick, then in the Washington Nationals’ system, played during the 2015 season. Mendick, part of the Chicago White Sox system, played in 2017. Patrick Urckfitz (Penfield/Monroe CC), then with the Corpus Christi Hooks – the Double-A affiliate of the Houston Astros, pitched in the 2010 AFL season.
Clement attended the University of Virginia where he helped the Cavaliers to the 2015 NCAA Championship. During the summer of 2016, he led the Cape Cod League hitting .353 for the Harwich Mariners. Clement and former Canandaigua Brave, Adam Scott, are currently teammates on Akron.
Brighton’s Ernie Clement makes jokes, hard contact, slick plays for Akron.
Current major leaguers Mookie Betts, Kris Bryant, Bryce Harper and Giancarlo Stanton all spent a season in the AFL as did Jake Arrieta and Max Scherzer.
The AFL is referred to as the “finishing school” for MLB’s top prospects and began play in 1992.
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