Among our region’s three summer leagues, the Futures Collegiate League is unique in that it has allowed rising college talent to get an early taste of the college game in a minor league-style setting for nearly its entire 11-year history.
Former Boston College slugger Chris Shaw (Lexington, Mass.), Vanderbilt outfielder Rhett Wiseman (Mansfield, Mass.) were among the first highly touted locals to make a stop in the FCBL prior to their college debuts and, eventually, professional baseball. Later came UConn relief ace and now-Red Sox prospect Jacob Wallace (Methuen, Mass.) and others.
The trend has grown more recently to include the likes of BC’s Sal Frelick (Lexington, Mass.), Cody Morissette (Exeter, N.H.) and Emmet Sheehan (Darien, Conn.), all of whom were drafted and started pro careers this year after developing with Eagles, and Vanderbilt’s Dominic Keegan (Methuen, Mass.).
Earlier this summer, Owen Kellington (Plainfield, Vt.) pitched in two games for the eventual FCBL champion Vermont Lake Monsters before the Pittsburgh Pirates made him the highest draft pick ever from a Vermont high school with their fourth-round selection. The Lake Monsters also featured the league’s top prospect in catcher Ethan Anderson, a freshman at Virginia.
NEBJ takes a look at the top New Englanders in this year’s FCBL “rookie class” with a pair of watch lists. The first focuses on pitchers.
