WEYMOUTH, Mass. (July 7, 2021) -- The best players from around the Futures Collegiate Baseball League (FCBL) are set to descend on New Britain Stadium for the 2021 FCBL All-Star Game on Tuesday, July 13. Next week’s showcase event will mark the first to be held at the home of the New Britain Bees.
Featuring an East-West format, rosters were announced on Wednesday in anticipation of the league’s first All-Star Game events since 2019. The West roster includes players from the Bees, league-leading Pittsfield Suns, Vermont Lake Monsters and Westfield Starfires, while the East side includes the first-place Brockton Rox, defending champion Nashua Silver Knights, Norwich Sea Unicorns and Worcester Bravehearts.
The “midsummer classic” wouldn’t be complete without a Home Run Derby, which will be held on a separate night for the first time in league history on Monday, July 12. The field is slated to feature one representative from each FCBL team.
Click here for full All-Star Game rosters and a list of Home Run Derby participants.
“The Futures League is excited to come together once again for two days filled with baseball and plenty of fun in New Britain,” FCBL Commissioner Joe Paolucci said. “We look forward to the opportunity to showcase our best players with the return of the All-Star Game -- our biggest event of the summer -- in front of a passionate fan base.”
New Britain will be well represented throughout the All-Star festivities. The 78 Sports May/June Player of the Month, third baseman Luke Broadhurst (Eastern Connecticut) headlines both the Home Run Derby field and a powerful West infield as he boasts a league-leading five homers while ranking third in batting average. Left-hander Bryson Cafaro (Fairfield) has a FCBL-high four victories for the Bees.
The West side features the league’s top seven qualifying hitters as New Britain’s Ryan Bagdasarian (Eastern Connecticut) and Westfield’s Jaden Brown (Iowa Western CC) rank ahead of Broadhurst. The Bees duo of Jake Hyde (Georgetown) and Alec Ritch (Middlebury) are the league leaders in RBI and stolen bases, respectively. Four of Pittsfield’s hitters have .300 averages including outfielder Javier Rosales (Long Beach State) and catcher Jackson Appel (Penn).
The East’s top offensive producers -- outfielders Michael Golankiewicz (Merrimack) and Ben Rounds (Harvard) -- both come from the first-place Brockton Rox, as do the top two pitchers in Dillon Ryan (UMass Boston) and Kevin Dow (UMass). Ryan was named the FCBL’s May/June Pitcher of the Month as he holds a stellar 1.07 ERA and 46 strikeouts in 25.1 innings.
In addition, four of the league’s top five strikeout pitchers are on the East squad including Ryan, Worcester’s Jack Choate (Assumption) and LJ Keevan (UMass Lowell), and Norwich’s Bobby McBride (UConn), while Vermont’s Patrick Harrington (Assumption). That side also includes pitcher Aidan Crowley (Boston College), Nashua’s representative on the recently announced On Demand Storage Team of the Month for May/June.
Managing the All-Star squads will be Brockton’s Michael Garza and Pittsfield’s Matt Gedman, whose teams own the best records among the teams in their respective divisional alignments.
Both the West and East teams will add one more player as chosen by the fans in the All-Star Fan Vote, which will feature one player from each FCBL squad. Details on how to vote will be released later this week.
Tickets for Tuesday’s All-Star Game can be purchased through the New Britain Bees by clicking here. Gates open at 5 p.m. prior to the first pitch at 6:35. Admission to Monday’s Home Run Derby is free of charge, with the night’s festivities including batting practices and autograph sessions with both teams.
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