Mississippi State’s Nolan Stevens, a two-way player as a freshman with the Bulldogs, started in the New England Collegiate Baseball League All-Star Game as an outfielder on Sunday, representing the Newport (Rhode Island) Gulls.
Stevens has not pitched this summer with the Gulls, but he’s slashing .330/.439/.557 in 30 games with nine doubles, five home runs and 27 runs batted in. He adjusted quickly to the wood bats, hitting safely in 13 straight games at one point, and has helped Newport to a 23-13 record and first place in the NECBL Coastal division.
Outfielder Brett House, who did not see any action as a freshman this past spring for MSU, got off to a hot start with the NECBL’s Keene (New Hampshire) Swamp Bats with three homers in his first five games, but cooled off after that, collecting just two hits in his next 14 games. He went 2-for-4 with a triple and an RBI on July 13, then left the team after one more hitless outing on July 16 to get ready for the new school year.
Infielder Gehrig Frei transferred to MSU from North Alabama in June and is an everyday player this summer with the NECBL’s Upper Valley Nighthawks. Frei is batting just .229 but has a solid .743 OPS, and he homered and doubled in his last game Saturday against the Vermont Mountaineers.
Over in Massachusetts and the prestigious Cape Cod Baseball League, right-hander Cam Schuelke has made six relief appearances for the Cotuit Kettleers and is 2-1 with a 3.52 ERA in 7 2/3 innings, with two saves in three chances. Schuelke is in his third season with Cotuit, which is 19-10 and atop the CCBL West division standings.
After a strong and busy first year with the Bulldogs, Schuelke earned his first win of the summer on July 7 with two perfect innings and four strikeouts in a 10-inning victory at Hyannis. He was not quite as sharp three days later at Wareham, allowing a run on four hits and two walks over two innings, but was again the winning pitcher thanks to a three-run rally in the eighth by the Kettleers.
Schuelke was selected by the Cleveland Guardians in the 19th round of the MLB Draft on July 16, but does have one more year of college eligibility.
Michael O’Brien, after playing in 24 games with two starts as a freshman at MSU, enjoyed an excellent summer with the Amsterdam (New York) Mohawks of the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League. O’Brien played his last game of the summer on July 3 and finished with a .327 batting average and 12 stolen bases in 17 games, closing out his tenure with back-to-back multi-hit outings. The Mohawks won all but two games in which O’Brien appeared.
Catcher Steven Spalitta is still in Amsterdam after making eight appearances as a freshman with the Bulldogs. In 30 games this summer, Spalitta is getting on base at an incredible .522 clip, with 17 walks and just nine strikeouts. He is batting .267 and hit his first home run of the season Monday in a 17-5 win against the Boonville Lumberjacks.
Rising sophomore Gage Haley, who pitched in just one game with MSU in 2024, made nine appearances — four of them starts — for the Mohawks this summer and posted a 3.96 ERA in 25 innings. He returned home after allowing one run in four innings last Thursday, working around four hits and four walks.
Bulldog transfer Ace Reese, coming off a strong freshman year at Houston, has been spectacular for the Orange County Riptide of the California Collegiate League with a .369/.446/.524 triple slash through 23 games. He figures to be in line for a starting role next spring for MSU, whether in the infield or as the designated hitter.
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