Junior pitcher Chris Manno left the mound Aug. 14 confident that his team would find a way to win the championship. His faith, however, did not lie with his Duke teammates-but rather, with college players from across the country.
Manno was one of five Blue Devils who spent this past summer playing in the Cape Cod Baseball League.
The 65-mile-long peninsula in southern Massachusetts is home to the nation's premier collegiate baseball summer league. Participation in the wood-bat league is by invitation only and one glance at the list of league alumni reveals the level of unparalleled talent on the Cape. During the 2007 Major League Baseball season, there were 212 former CCBL players on league rosters.
"You know the guys who have played in Cape Cod. You know the legacy the league has and just being a part of that is something special," junior relief pitcher and center fielder Alex Hassan said.
For the Blue Devils, the unknown aspect of the competition in the CCBL only served to increase its toughness.
"What's neat about it is we play in one of the best collegiate leagues in the country during the school year in the ACC, but in the Cape we get to play against a whole different group of guys who we don't see," senior first baseman Nate Freiman said. "We never play against kids from California, or Texas or Arizona."
And the CCBL stat sheet clearly reflected the Blue Devils' ability to take this challenge head-on.
Freiman led the Orleans Cardinals to the league's best regular-season record batting from the clean-up spot and was second on the team in hits, RBI and home runs.
Manno finished the season 3-0 with 54 strikeouts and an earned run average of 1.21, earning All-League honors for his performance. He also helped the Harwich Mariners capture their first CCBL Championship in 21 years, allowing only one unearned run over seven innings in the second game of the three-game final. Even though he left the game with his team behind, the Mariners rallied in the bottom of the ninth to win 2-1 and capture the league title-just as he knew they would.
Holding their own in the upper echelon of collegiate baseball players gave the Blue Devils confidence that could translate to increased success in the spring.
Last year, the third season of head coach Sean McNally's tenure, Duke finished one half game out of the ACC tournament. The top eight teams in the league qualify.
"Definitely there's a lot of carry-over from summer baseball to when they come back, no question," McNally said. "When you go away from Duke and get out of this comfort zone and play on a team with guys from other programs, certainly it's a confidence builder-it's a challenge. There's growth in a lot of ways."
Freiman, Hassan, Manno, sophomore shortstop Jake Lemmerman and junior pitcher Michael Seander all played on the Cape and most agreed that it reassured them of their skill. It also showed them many ways in which they can improve.
"I can do so much better than I am right now and that's the main thing I took out of it," said Manno, who came into his own on the mound last season. "It's exciting to see how much more I can improve. I'm going to work every which way I can to be twice as good as I was last year."
Moreover, the Blue Devils' learning experiences extended outside the chalked lines.
They played in front of crowds that would be unheard of at Jack Coombs Field, and grew to understand the weighty historical significance of the league in a place where baseball holds top priority.
"It's a tradition up there that's really important to the people," Freiman said. "The people who come to our games come out every single night of their summer."
"All the kids idolize you," Lemmerman said. "After every game, they'll come up to you and get your signature. They all know your name, they know your background, everything about you."
Serving as ambassadors for Duke in such a prestigious league also meant a lot to the players, especially because Duke had such a large representation.
"We haven't had many players up on the Cape," Manno said. "Representing the shirt in the right way on and off the field, working in the camps for the Mariners, talking to fans, old timers-they ask you where you go and I'm proud to say I go to Duke.
"I had one of the best times of my life playing baseball there. I hope to have an even better time playing this year at Duke."
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