Florida Collegiate Summer League

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Florida Collegiate Summer League
SportBaseball
Founded2003
MottoPure Baseball
No. of teams6
CountryUnited States
Most recent
champion(s)		Sanford River Rats (2020)
Most titlesWinter Park Diamond Dawgs (5)
Official websitewww.floridaleague.com

The Florida Collegiate Summer League (FCSL) is a six-team[1] wood bat collegiate summer baseball league located in the Central Florida region of the southeastern United States. The league was founded in the fall of 2003[2] and began play in the summer of 2004. It is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose mission is to "advance college players toward their futures in professional baseball."[3] 360 players have been drafted in the first thirteen seasons including 33 in the 2016 MLB Draft. FCSL has had 16 alumni play in Major League Baseball including New York Mets pitcher Jacob DeGrom, Milwaukee Brewers catcher Jonathan Lucroy, Miami Marlins second baseman Dee Gordon, Colorado Rockies pitcher Mike McClendon, Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Jimmy Nelson, and San Francisco Giants pitcher Chris Heston. The FCSL is one of twelve leagues in the National Alliance of College Summer Baseball.

Teams[]

Team City Stadium[4] Head Coach[5]
Altamonte Springs Scorpions[6] Altamonte Springs, Florida Chuck Schall
DeLand Suns DeLand, Florida Melching Field at Conrad Park (Stetson University) Rick Hall
Leesburg Lightning[7] Leesburg, Florida Pat Thomas Stadium Rich Billings
Sanford River Rats Sanford, Florida Historic Sanford Memorial Stadium Kevin Davidson
Winter Garden Squeeze Winter Garden, Florida West Orange High School
Winter Park Diamond Dawgs Winter Park, Florida Bishop Moore Catholic High School Scotty Makarewicz
Timeline of Teams
Altamonte Springs BoomWinter Garden SqueezeCollege Park FreedomCollege Park FreedomDeLand SunsOrlando SunsOrlando MavericksClermont MavericksBelleview BulldogsLeesburg LightningWinter Springs CudasOrlando HammersZephyrhills SnappersWinter Haven LoggerheadsWinter Haven WarthogsWinter Park Diamond DawgsSanford River RatsOrlando MonarchsOrlando ShockersDaytona Beach Barracudas

League members Future members

Alumni (top-five round picks and notables)[]

Player FCSL Team Years Played Year Drafted Round MLB Team
Mike McClendon* Winter Park 2006 2006 10th Milwaukee Brewers
Corey Brown* Orlando Shockers 2006 2007 1st Oakland Athletics
Jonathan Lucroy* Sanford 2005–06 2007 3rd Milwaukee Brewers
Alan Farina Orlando Shockers 2005 2007 3rd Toronto Blue Jays
Jonathan Holt Leesburg 2006-2007 2007 5th Cleveland Indians
Johnny Monell* Winter Park 2006 2007 30th San Francisco Giants
Dee Gordon* Belleview 2008 4th Los Angeles Dodgers
Mycal Jones Leesburg 2007 - 2009 4th Atlanta Braves
Kent Matthes Winter Pines 2009 4th Colorado Rockies
Thomas Berryhill DeLand 2009 5th Atlanta Braves
Jimmy Nelson* DeLand 2010 2nd Milwaukee Brewers
Dante Bichette, Jr. Winter Park 2011 1st New York Yankees
Peter O'Brien DeLand 2012 2nd New York Yankees
Brandon Thomas Sanford 2012 4th Pittsburgh Pirates
Tucker Donahue Winter Park 2012 4th Toronto Blue Jays
Myles Smith DeLand 2013 4th Boston Red Sox
Zane Evans Leesburg 2013 4th Kansas City Royals
Aaron Slegers 2013 5th Minnesota Twins
Ian McKinney Winter Park 2013 5th St. Louis Cardinals

(*) = Reached the Major Leagues

Champions[]

Year Winning Team Runs Losing Team Runs
2004 Sanford River Rats 10 0
2005 2 Sanford River Rats 1
2006 Winter Park Diamond Dawgs 4 3
2007 Leesburg Lightning[8] 6 0
Clermont Mavericks[8] 9 Belleview Bulldogs 1
Leesburg Lightning[9] 5 Clermont Mavericks 1
Winter Park Diamond Dawgs 1 Leesburg Lightning 0
Sanford River Rats 7 Winter Park Diamond Dawgs 5
DeLand Suns 10 Leesburg Lightning 7
Winter Park Diamond Dawgs 3 Leesburg Lightning 0
Winter Park Diamond Dawgs 6 Sanford River Rats 4
Sanford River Rats 1 Leesburg Lightning 0

Award winners[]

Year MVP Cy Young Best Pro Prospect
2004 Kyle Patrick, Sanford Drew Shetrone, Sanford N/A
2005 , Zephyrhills Ty Pryor, Winter Park N/A
2006 Anthony Ottrando, Altamonte Springs Ryan Horton, Winter Park Jonathan Lucroy, Winter Park
2007 Tyler McCarty, Winter Springs John Durahm, Altamonte Springs Aaron Tullo, Winter Park
Andy Mee, Belleview Bo O'Dell, Belleview Jeff Walters, Winter Park
Anthony Figliolia, Winter Park Trey Ferrano, Sanford Jabari Blash, DeLand
LB Dantzler, Winter Park Bobby Bolling, Winter Park Brandon Thomas, Sanford
Ted Blackman, Winter Park Ben Brown, Winter Park Garrett Nuss, Orlando
Michael Danner, Winter Park Evan Incinelli, Winter Park David Lee, Orlando
Tyler Palmer, Sanford Emilio Ogando, Winter Park Tyler Palmer, Sanford

Celebrity Golf Tournament[]

Every November, the Florida League hosts a celebrity golf tournament at Interlachen Country Club in Winter Park, FL. Money raised from the event helps fund the League throughout the year. The weekend-long event includes a hitting & pitching clinic for kids, a catered pairings dinner, a meet-and-greet with the celebrities, a silent auction and the round of golf. Celebrity appearances have been made by dozens of current and former MLB players including: Davey Johnson, Frank Viola, Hunter Pence, José Bautista, Ray Lankford, Gary Carter, Fred McGriff, Jeff Bagwell, B.J. Upton, Tim Wakefield, Zack Greinke, Andrew McCutchen, Tim Raines, Vince Coleman and many others.

High School Invitational[]

In an effort to reach out to baseball players of all levels, the FCSL also hosts multiple spring break tournaments during the month of March. All games are held at Historic Sanford Memorial Stadium in Sanford, FL. These tournaments, known as the Florida High School Invitational, bring in teams from all over the United States. The 2013 tournament featured twenty-three teams from across the country. Notable prospects who have participated in the FHSI include Albert Almora (#6 overall pick, 2012, Chicago Cubs), Dante Bichette, Jr. (1st round pick, 2011, New York Yankees), Francisco Lindor (#8 overall pick, 2011, Cleveland Indians), Javier Baez (#9 overall pick, 2011, Chicago Cubs), Greg Bird (5th round, 2011, New York Yankees), Tomas Nido (8th round, 2012, New York Mets), Chris Okey (All-American), and Touki Toussaint (All-American).

Year Champion Location
2008 St. Cloud Bulldogs St. Cloud, FL
2009 All Saints Academy Saints Winter Haven, FL
2010 Timber Creek Wolves Orlando, FL
2011 (Week 1) Timber Creek Wolves Orlando, FL
2011 (Week 2) Bryant Hornets Bryant, AR
2012 Palm Beach Gardens Gators Palm Beach Gardens, FL
2013 (Classic) Lake Brantley Patriots Altamonte Springs, FL
2013 (Showcase) Seminole Seminoles Sanford, FL

External links[]

References[]

  1. ^ Ping, Dan (August 15, 2008). "Going for a home run: Locals learn starting a real baseball league requires business acumen". Orlando Business Journal. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
  2. ^ "LE MOYNE'S ROBBY PEREZ NAMED FLORIDA COLLEGIATE SUMMER LEAGUE PLAYER OF THE WEEK, FINISHES REGULAR SEASON WITH LEAGUE-BEST 41 HITS". LeMoyne Athletics. July 31, 2006. Archived from the original on May 5, 2007. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
  3. ^ "About The Florida Collegiate Summer League" at floridaleague.com [1] Archived 2008-12-19 at the Wayback Machine URL accessed January 2, 2009
  4. ^ FCSL Fields Archived 2008-12-19 at the Wayback Machine at floridaleague.com; URL accessed June 28, 2009
  5. ^ PhilChinnery (February 10, 2015). "Familiar Faces in New Places: 2015 Head Coaches Announced". Archived from the original on February 10, 2015. Retrieved February 10, 2015..
  6. ^ PhilChinnery (February 2, 2015). "League Announces New Team in Altamonte Springs". Archived from the original on February 10, 2015. Retrieved February 10, 2015.
  7. ^ Williams, Joe (September 29, 2006). "Leesburg's new team promises local flair: Former star Josh Holt will coach the Lightning this summer in a baseball league for college players". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
  8. ^ Jump up to: a b Jolley, Frank (March 27, 2009). "FCSL rivals Leesburg, Clermont to face each other 11 times". The Daily Commercial. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
  9. ^ LEE v. CLE Boxscore 8/3/09[permanent dead link] at floridaleague.com, URL accessed August 4, 2009
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