HARRISONBURG, Va., July 14, 2010 - While many of the team's pitchers are resting arms for the summer, several James Madison offensive players have been active in various summer collegiate baseball leagues, highlighted by rising sophomore outfielder Johnny Bladel (Ashburn, Va./Stone Bridge).

Bladel has starred for the Herndon Braves in the Cal Ripken, Sr. Collegiate Baseball League.  He was selected to the league's all-star squad for the second annual Mid-Atlantic Classic, a showdown with the Valley Baseball League.  However, the July 14 contest was postponed. 

After leading the Clark Griffith League in batting (.356) last summer, Bladel has seen more summer success this year at a higher level of competition.  Through games of July 13, Bladel ranks sixth in the CRCBL with a .324 average, fifth with a .454 slugging percentage, and 10^th with a .397 on-base percentage.  His 25 steals are 11 more than the next-best total in the league while he also ranks second with 20 RBIs, third with three triples, third with 35 hits, eighth with 18 runs scored, 12^th with 14 walks, 14^th with five doubles, and second with three sacrifice flies.  He has also pitched one scoreless inning of relief.  Bladel was the league's Co-Player of the Week for June 21-27.

Rising senior outfielder Alex Foltz (Mathias, W.Va./East Hardy) is heating up recently after missing the 2010 season for academic reasons.  He debuted June 30 with the Holyoke Blue Sox in the North East Collegiate Baseball League.  After a slow start going 4-for-20, he has hit .500 (10-for-20) in his last four games with four doubles, two home runs, and eight RBIs.  He ranks 17^th in the league with five doubles despite playing half as many games as the rest of the top 20.  Foltz is hitting .350 for the season with a .458 on-base percentage, .625 slugging percentage, 10 runs, eight RBIs, and three steals.

Playing near their Midlothian, Va. homes, former Cosby High School teammates Jake Lowery and Bradley Shaban have continued to stick together from JMU to the Petersburg Generals of the Coastal Plains League.  Lowery, a catcher, leads his team with a .282 average to go with four doubles, one triple, two home runs, 16 RBIs, and 17 walks.  Shaban, an infielder who saw limited action in his first JMU season, has been a regular starter while hitting .243 with 22 runs, 26 hits, three doubles, two triples, seven RBIs, 17 walks, and eight steals.

Playing less than 20 minutes from his home, outfielder Matt Tenaglia (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks East) is hitting .218 in 16 games with the Quakertown Blazers of the Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League.

A little further from home, catcher Billy Logan (Greenup, Ky./Greenup County) is playing with the Oneonta Outlaws of the New York Collegiate Baseball League.  He is hitting .135 in 11 games.  JMU pitchers Evan Scott (Haymarket, Va./Battlefield) and Nick Slogik (Strongsville, Ohio/St. Edward) each made limited appearances with Oneonta but are no longer active.  Scott had a 1.17 ERA in 7 2/3 innings with a .148 opponent average in two appearances.  Slogik pitched just one inning, allowing four runs on three hits.

Rising senior pitcher James Weiner (Charlottesville, Va./St. Anne's-Belfield) made three appearances with the Harrisonburg Turks of the Valley Baseball League but has since been released.  He has signed with the Clover Hill Bucks of the local Rockingham County Baseball League and could see action later in the summer.

Several Diamond Dukes are spending their summer in the RCBL.  Josh Futter (Columbia, Md./Wilde Lake) was the Pitcher of the Week with the Bridgewater Reds for June 28 to July 4.  For the season through July 4, he ranked 10^th in the league with a 2.22 ERA and eighth with 26 strikeouts.

Futter is joined on the Reds by incoming JMU player Tyler McFarland (Bridgewater, Va./Turner Ashby), pitcher Scott Mayer (Waterford, Va./Loudoun Valley), and D.J. Brown (Locust Grove, Va./Orange County).  Outfielder Beau Banglesdorf (Stafford, Va./Mountain View) is suiting up with the Elkton Blue Sox.  Recently finished pitcher Jason Kuhn (Stafford, Va./Brooke Point) and utility player Kent Burford (Waynesboro, Va./Stuarts Draft) are playing with Clover Hill and Stuarts Draft, respectively.