UT Arlington Mavs Take Part in Summer Baseball
By UT Arlington Athletics Department
Posted on July 06, 2015, July 06, 2015

Articles-UTA-Sports

With baseball season ending in late May, UT Arlington had 10 players travel across the country to play summer baseball with five different teams in four different leagues.

"Summer ball is extremely important for our program," UT Arlington coach Darin Thomas said. "It's another whole season. It gives you at-bats, puts you in situations and also gets you out of your comfort zone. You go out, have to travel and are away from home. Well, if you want to play professional baseball that's exactly what you will have to do. You don't play every day in college baseball and in summer ball you're probably playing five or six days a week, which is what you'll do if you play professional baseball."

The Mavericks are well represented in the Jayhawk league, having six players on the Hays Larks and the Liberal Bee Jays. RJ Williams, Blake Korthauer and Jake Wilcox play for the Larks, while Brady Cox, Brad Vassar and Joel Kuhnel will spend their summer playing for the Bee Jays. Cox has notched four extra-base hits, six RBI and 10 runs this summer, while compiling a .429 on-base percentage. Williams has had an impressive summer season, seeing action in 23 games and registering a .356 batting average. Williams has also recorded 14 extra-base hits to go along with four home runs and an on-base percentage of .422.

Jerame Littell and Hunter Spielman are suiting up for the Texas Marshals of the Texas Collegiate League. Spielman's summer has seen five outings with one or fewer hits allowed, including an appearance of 3.1 scoreless innings where he allowed just one hit and struck out three. Speilman has also registered 15 strikeouts in his 12.1 innings on the hill for the Marshals.

Will Olson's summer will be spent in the Ohio Valley League as a member of the Hoptown Hoppers, located in Hopkinsville, Ky. Olson has registered six extra-base hits and 11 RBI to go along with a pair of home runs.

The final Maverick playing summer baseball is Christian Hollie, who is spending time in Martinsville, Va. as a member of the Martinsville Mustangs of the Coastal Plain League. Hollie leads the Coast Plain league in triples (3) and assists (19), while also fielding 19 double plays, the second most in the league. Hollie has also recorded 14 stolen bases, while registering five extra-base hits and 10 RBI.

"The grind of everyday baseball is big, but also the experience is important too," Thomas added. "It's another season so if a freshman plays here and then goes out in the summer and plays full time, he's basically coming back to us as a junior and not as a sophomore. That's one good thing about our sport. Summer baseball is extremely important and always has been for the development of our players."

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