Tar Heels chase pro careers in Cape Cod

Summer is supposed to be a time of relaxation for college students, a chance to recharge their batteries after a long and stressful school year.

But while some were lounging at the beach, nine members of the UNC baseball team were hard at work, running down fly balls and chasing after their dreams on the fields of the Cape Cod Baseball League.

The league is a 115-year-old wooden-bat summer league for college baseball players with a seemingly endless list of major league alumni that includes current superstars Evan Longoria, Mark Teixeira and Tim Lincecum.

By collecting elite collegiate talent from across the country, the league provides the premier platform for major league hopefuls to show off their skills to the handful of scouts who come to every game.

“They’re playing against the best college players throughout the country,” UNC coach Mike Fox said. “They’re getting to play against terrific competition, so it can only help them.”

Aside from being a breeding ground for future pro ball players, the Cape Cod League is special for the way the people of Cape Cod, Mass., have devoted themselves to the league throughout the years.

An average of 1,245 fans attended each game during the 2010 season, with 5,391 showing up for the final game of this year’s title series.

“It’s unreal,” UNC pitcher Garrett Davis said of his two summers in the league. “It’s a big deal up there; they take it really seriously. That’s what makes it so cool, I think.”

Just as they do in the major leagues, Cape Cod League teams usually play either six or seven games a week. Games are played either in the afternoon or evening, depending on whether the game is being played at a field with lights.

In the mornings, players work either as baseball camp counselors or as field hands and then go to practice or to the gym before the game.

“You’re going to have days when you don’t feel your best and days where you almost feel like you can’t make it,” Davis said. “But you’ve just got to push through it, if that’s what you want to do.”

Despite the grind, both Davis and fellow UNC and Chatham Anglers pitcher Chris Munnelly raved about their time in Massachusetts. They made friendships with baseball players from all over the nation and tested themselves daily against the best that college baseball has to offer.

And even if their major league dreams never come to fruition and all of their hard work goes for naught, it is unlikely that either will soon forget his summer at the Cape.

“It’s just pure baseball up there,” Munnelly said. “You don’t have to worry about all the distractions and all the hype of college baseball. It’s just like you’re going out there and playing the game for the game.”

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