Florida Collegiate Summer League Explained

Florida Collegiate Summer League
Sport:Baseball
Founded:2003
Motto:Pure Baseball
Teams:6
Country:United States
Champion:Leesburg Lightning (2024)
Most Successful Club:Winter Park Diamond Dawgs (6)
Website:www.floridaleague.com

The Florida Collegiate Summer League (FCSL) is a six-team[1] wood bat collegiate summer baseball league located in the Central Florida region of the southeastern United States. The league was founded in the fall of 2003[2] and began play in the summer of 2004. It is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose mission is to "advance college players toward their futures in professional baseball."[3] 360 players have been drafted in the first thirteen seasons including 33 in the 2016 MLB Draft. FCSL has had 16 alumni play in Major League Baseball, including New York Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom, Milwaukee Brewers catcher Jonathan Lucroy, Miami Marlins second baseman Dee Gordon, Colorado Rockies pitcher Mike McClendon, Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Jimmy Nelson, and San Francisco Giants pitcher Chris Heston. The FCSL is one of twelve leagues in the National Alliance of College Summer Baseball.

Teams

TeamCityStadium[4] Head Coach[5]
Orlando SnappersOrlando, FloridaLake Highland Preparatory SchoolTerry Abbott
DeLand SunsDeLand, FloridaMelching Field at Conrad Park (Stetson University)Cameron Jergens
Leesburg Lightning[6] Leesburg, FloridaPat Thomas StadiumRich Billings
Sanford River RatsSanford, FloridaHistoric Sanford Memorial StadiumJesse Litsch
Winter Garden SqueezeWinter Garden, FloridaOlympia High SchoolMike McDaniel
Winter Park Diamond DawgsWinter Park, FloridaAlfond StadiumJim Newlin
Timeline of TeamsDateFormat = yyyyImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:25Period = from:2004 till:2024TimeAxis = orientation:horizontalPlotArea = right:20 left:0 bottom:50 top:5 #> to display a count on left side of graph, use "left:20" to suppress the count, use "left:20"<#Colors = id:barcolor id:line value:pink id:bg value:white id:Full value:rgb(0.742,0.727,0.852) # Use this color to denote a team that is a current league member id:Other value:rgb(0.996,0.996,0.699) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another current league id:Future value:rgb(0.551,0.824,0.777) # Use this color to denote a current club

PlotData= width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s

bar:1 color:Full from:2004 till:2005 text:Daytona Beach Barracudas (2004-2005)

bar:2 color:Full from:2004 till:2007 text:Orlando Shockers (2004–2006) bar:2 color:Full from:2012 till:2014 text:Orlando Monarchs (2012-2013) bar:3 color:Full from:2004 till:end text:Sanford River Rats (2004-present) bar:4 color:Full from:2004 till:end text:Winter Park Diamond Dawgs (2004-present)

bar:5 color:Full from:2005 till:2007 text:Winter Haven (2005) / Winter Pines (2006) Warthogs bar:5 color:Full from:2011 till:2012 text:Winter Haven Loggerheads (2011)

bar:6 color:Full from:2005 till:2008 text:Zephyrhills (2005) / Altamonte Springs (2006-7) Snappers bar:6 color:Full from:2020 till:end text:Seminole County/Orlando Snappers (2020-present)

bar:7 color:Full from:2006 till:2007 text:Orlando Hammers (2006)

bar:8 color:Full from:2007 till:2008 text:Winter Springs Cudas (2007)

bar:9 color:Full from:2007 till:end text:Leesburg Lightning (2007-present)

bar:10 color:Full from:2008 till:2009 text:Belleview Bulldogs (2008)

bar:11 color:Full from:2008 till:2010 text:Clermont (2008-2009) / bar:11 color:Full from:2010 till:2011 text:Orlando Mavericks (2010)

bar:12 color:Full from:2008 till:2009 text:Orlando(08) bar:12 color:Full from:2009 till:end text:DeLand Suns (2009-present)

bar:13 color:Full from:2011 till:2013 text:Orlando (2011-12) / bar:13 color:Full from:2013 till:2015 text:College Park Freedom (2013-14)

bar:14 color:Full from:2014 till:end text:Winter Garden Squeeze (2014-present)

bar:16 color:Full from:2015 till:2017 text:Altamonte Springs Boom (2015-16)

bar:17 color:Full from:2017 till:2020 text:Altamonte Springs/Seminole County Scorpions (2017-19)

ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:1 start:2004TextData =

fontsize:L

textcolor:black

pos:(0,30) tabs:(400-center)

text:^"Florida Collegiate Summer League"

  1. > If the chart uses more than one bar color, add a legend by selecting the appropriate fields from the following three options (use only the colors that are used in the graphic.) Leave a blank line after the end of the timeline, then add a line with the selected values from the list, separated by a space. <#

Alumni (top-five round picks and notables)

PlayerFCSL Team Years PlayedYear Drafted Round MLB Team
Mike McClendon*200610th Milwaukee Brewers
Corey BrownOrlando Shockers20061stOakland Athletics
Jonathan Lucroy2005–063rdMilwaukee Brewers
Alan FarinaOrlando Shockers 20053rdToronto Blue Jays
Jonathan HoltLeesburg2006-075thCleveland Indians
Johnny MonellWinter Park200630thSan Francisco Giants
Dee Gordon20084thLos Angeles Dodgers
Mycal JonesLeesburg2007-084thAtlanta Braves
Kent MatthesWinter Pines20084thColorado Rockies
Thomas BerryhillDeLand20085thAtlanta Braves
Jimmy NelsonDeLand200920102ndMilwaukee Brewers
Dante Bichette, Jr.Winter Park201120111stNew York Yankees
Peter O'BrienDeLand 201020122ndNew York Yankees
Brandon Thomas201020124thPittsburgh Pirates
Tucker Donahue201020124thToronto Blue Jays
Myles SmithDeLand 201120134thBoston Red Sox
Zane Evans201120134thKansas City Royals
Aaron Slegers201220135thMinnesota Twins
Ian McKinney201320135thSt. Louis Cardinals
(*) = Reached the Major Leagues

Champions

YearWinning TeamRunsLosing TeamRuns
2004Sanford River Rats10Daytona Beach Barracudas0
2005Zephyrhills Snappers2Sanford River Rats1
2006Winter Park Diamond Dawgs4Altamonte Springs Snappers3
2007Leesburg Lightning[7] 6Altamonte Springs Snappers0
2008Clermont Mavericks9Belleview Bulldogs1
2009Leesburg Lightning[8] 5Clermont Mavericks1
2010Winter Park Diamond Dawgs1Leesburg Lightning0
2011Sanford River Rats7Winter Park Diamond Dawgs5
2012DeLand Suns10Leesburg Lightning7
2013Winter Park Diamond Dawgs3Leesburg Lightning0
2014Winter Park Diamond Dawgs6Sanford River Rats4
2015Sanford River Rats1Leesburg Lightning0
2016Altamonte Springs Boom6Sanford River Rats5
2017Sanford River Rats6Winter Park Diamond Dawgs5
2018DeLand Suns12Winter Park Diamond Dawgs1
2019Winter Park Diamond Dawgs4DeLand Suns0
2020Sanford River Rats6Leesburg Lightning3
2021Leesburg Lightning9Winter Park Diamond Dawgs1
2022Winter Park Diamond Dawgs11Leesburg Lightning3
2023Leesburg Lightning7Winter Garden Squeeze2
2024Leesburg Lightning3DeLand Suns2

Award winners

YearMVPCy YoungBest Pro Prospect
2004Kyle Patrick, SanfordDrew Shetrone, SanfordN/A
2005Lee Cruz, ZephyrhillsTy Pryor, Winter ParkN/A
2006Anthony Ottrando, Altamonte SpringsRyan Horton, Winter ParkJonathan Lucroy, Winter Park
2007Tyler McCarty, Winter SpringsJohn Durham, Altamonte SpringsAaron Tullo, Winter Park
2008Andy Mee, BelleviewBo O'Dell, BelleviewJeff Walters, Winter Park
2009Anthony Figliolia, Winter ParkTrey Ferrano, SanfordJabari Blash, DeLand
2010LB Dantzler, Winter ParkBobby Bolling, Winter ParkBrandon Thomas, Sanford
2011Ted Blackman, Winter ParkBen Brown, Winter ParkGarrett Nuss, Orlando
2012Michael Danner, Winter ParkEvan Incinelli, Winter ParkDavid Lee, Orlando
2013Tyler Palmer, SanfordEmilio Ogando, Winter ParkTyler Palmer, Sanford
2014Austin HaysArturo MartoralAustin Hays
2015Santiago EspinalBrett MoralesAustin Glorius
2016Harrison ScanlonJarred NealCarlos Cortes
2017Sadler GoodwinDavid LitchfieldGarrett Zech
2018Aaron AndersonVlad NunezZebulon Vermillion
2019Mark TownsendJack WolgastGunnar Hoglund
2020Lucas DunnParker MessickDylan Crews
2021Josh PearsonGerry KellySterlin Thompson
2022Jeff LiquoriJacob BurrBrody Danay
2023Gabriel SantiagoJacob BurrConnor Hujsak
2024Titan KamakaMicah Takac

Celebrity golf tournament

Every November, the Florida League hosts a celebrity golf tournament at Interlachen Country Club in Winter Park, FL. Money raised from the event helps fund the League throughout the year. The weekend-long event includes a hitting & pitching clinic for kids, a catered pairings dinner, a meet-and-greet with the celebrities, a silent auction and the round of golf. Celebrity appearances have been made by dozens of current and former MLB players including: Davey Johnson, Frank Viola, Hunter Pence, José Bautista, Ray Lankford, Gary Carter, Fred McGriff, Jeff Bagwell, B.J. Upton, Tim Wakefield, Zack Greinke, Andrew McCutchen, Tim Raines, Vince Coleman and many others.

High school invitational

In an effort to reach out to baseball players of all levels, the FCSL also hosts multiple spring break tournaments during the month of March. All games are held at Historic Sanford Memorial Stadium in Sanford, FL. These tournaments, known as the Florida High School Invitational, bring in teams from all over the United States. The 2013 tournament featured twenty-three teams from across the country. Notable prospects who have participated in the FHSI include Albert Almora (#6 overall pick, 2012, Chicago Cubs), Dante Bichette, Jr. (1st round pick, 2011, New York Yankees), Francisco Lindor (#8 overall pick, 2011, Cleveland Indians), Javier Baez (#9 overall pick, 2011, Chicago Cubs), Greg Bird (5th round, 2011, New York Yankees), Tomas Nido (8th round, 2012, New York Mets), Chris Okey (All-American), and Touki Toussaint (All-American).

YearChampionLocation
2008St. Cloud BulldogsSt. Cloud, FL
2009All Saints Academy Saints
2010Timber Creek WolvesOrlando, FL
2011 (Week 1)Timber Creek WolvesOrlando, FL
2011 (Week 2)Bryant HornetsBryant, AR
2012Palm Beach Gardens GatorsPalm Beach Gardens, FL
2013 (Classic)Lake Brantley PatriotsAltamonte Springs, FL
2013 (Showcase)Seminole SeminolesSanford, FL

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Going for a home run: Locals learn starting a real baseball league requires business acumen. Ping. Dan. August 15, 2008. Orlando Business Journal . 2009-05-19.
  2. Web site: LE MOYNE'S ROBBY PEREZ NAMED FLORIDA COLLEGIATE SUMMER LEAGUE PLAYER OF THE WEEK, FINISHES REGULAR SEASON WITH LEAGUE-BEST 41 HITS. July 31, 2006. LeMoyne Athletics. 2009-05-19. https://web.archive.org/web/20070505023211/http://www.lemoynedolphins.com/sports/bsb/2006/news/20060731_bsbPerezpotw. May 5, 2007. dead.
  3. "About The Florida Collegiate Summer League" at floridaleague.com http://floridaleague.athleticsite.com/page.asp?articleID=18 URL accessed January 2, 2009
  4. http://floridaleague.athleticsite.com/page.asp?articleID=1 FCSL Fields
  5. Web site: Familiar Faces in New Places: 2015 Head Coaches Announced . PhilChinnery . February 10, 2015 . February 10, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150210180057/http://floridaleague.com/PressRoom/RecentNews/tabid/116/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/1848/Familiar-Faces-in-New-Places-2015-Head-Coaches-Announced.aspx . February 10, 2015 . dead . .
  6. Web site: Leesburg's new team promises local flair: Former star Josh Holt will coach the Lightning this summer in a baseball league for college players.. Williams. Joe. September 29, 2006. Orlando Sentinel. 2009-05-19.
  7. Web site: FCSL rivals Leesburg, Clermont to face each other 11 times . Jolley. Frank. March 27, 2009. The Daily Commercial. 2009-05-19.
  8. http://floridaleague.athleticsite.com/stats/lee09/lee39c.htm LEE v. CLE Boxscore 8/3/09