The Lipscomb baseball program has experienced its share of success over the last decade, in large part due to the quality of players brought in.
That quality was evident over the summer as three Bisons found success playing in the Cape Cod summer league.
The Cape Cod league is the most prestigious summer league for college baseball players. Multiple future Major League Baseball All-Stars and Hall of Famers have played for the league.
Junior centerfielder Michael Gigliotti and classmate-pitchers Brady Puckett and Jeffrey Passantino participated in the league this summer and played for the Falmouth Commodores. This marked the first time Lipscomb has ever sent more than one player to the league.
For Gigliotti, getting a chance to play in the league was a dream come true.
“It’s a lot of kids’ ultimate goal to play there for the summer,” Gigliotti said. “To finally go there and have a full summer there and have success is unexplainable.”
The members of the Bison trio were all named All-Stars of the league and recruited to the “All-League” team at the season’s end to help Falmouth get to the league championship series.
“That was the best part,” Gigliotti said. “To go there with my two other teammates and them have success too. We went and represented our school really well, but it was more than just for ourselves.”
Gigliotti posted a .310 batting average during the summer and accounted for 18 RBIs, ranking him third and second respectively in the league. His play helped him earn the ranking as the eighth-best player in the league according to D1baseball.com.
Puckett picked up the most wins for a pitcher with five and struck out 23 batters, the fourth most in the league.
Passantino experienced similar success as he ranked third in wins with three, second in strikeouts with 39 and held a second-in-the-league earned run average of .64.
With major league scouts in attendance at every game, the Bison players didn’t just get exposure for themselves, but also for the program.
“A lot of people didn’t know where Lipscomb was before the summer,” Gigliotti said. “We definitely put Lipscomb on the map. I think it’s going to help a lot for recruiting and our future years.”
The Bison baseball team doesn’t take the field again until the spring, but they will rely on the experience of Gigliotti, Puckett and Passantino as they look to capture their second Atlantic Sun Conference title in the last three seasons.
Photo courtesy of Lipscomb Athletics