2016 Season Recap: State College Spikes win NYPL Championship

The State College Spikes started the 2016 season with 10 players returning from 2015 and went on to set a franchise record for wins, going 50-26 during the regular season. They finished the season winning their second New York-Penn League Championship in the last three seasons, defeating the Hudson Valley Renegades in the Championship Series. They also set a single game attendance record of 6,111 on the final home date of the regular season.

The future looks bright in Happy Valley. The Spikes and Cardinals agreed to a two-year extension of the franchise agreement in the final week of the regular season. Both rookie league teams in the St. Louis Cardinals organization (Johnson City in the Appalachian League and the Gulf Coast League Cards) won their league championships.  St. Louis has the number 17 pick in the June, 2017 draft.

Read more here: http://www.centredaily.com/sports/mlb/state-college-spikes/article102567802.html#storylink=cpyBoth rookie league teams in the St. Louis Cardinals organization (Johnson City in the Appalachian League and the Gulf Coast League Cards) also won their league championships.  St. Louis is the number 17 pick in the June, 2017 draft.

Attendance: 125,875 for 38 dates. 3,313 fans per game.

Stats Leaders 

Batting Average: Jeremy Martinez, .325/.419/.852   The 21 year old, right hander was a fourth round pick (136 overall) in 2016 out of University of Southern California.

Home Runs: Ryan McCarvel, 10. The Texas native was drafted in the 19th round (581 overall) in 2015 out of Howard Community College. He also played in 5 games for Peoria in the Midwest League during the 2016 season.  His slash line was .224/.313/.392 for the Spikes this past season.

Runs Batted In: (Tie) Ryan McCarvel and Vince Jackson, 45. Jackson is a 22 year old left-hander who played college ball at Tennessee. He was originally drafted by the New York Yankees in the 23rd round in 2014, but did not sign. The Cardinals drafted him in 14th round (436 overall) in 2016. Jackson batted .233/.318/.392.

Stolen Bases: Tommy Edman, 19. The 21 year old switch-hitter was drafted in the 6th round (196th overall) in 2016 out of Stanford. He played in 66 games for the Spikes and batted .286/.400/.427.

Pitching Wins: Steven Farinaro, 9. Farinaro went 9-1 in 14 starts for the Spikes. He had a 3.46 ERA and a 1.42 WHIP in 83.1 innings. He was drafted out of an Oakland, CA high school in the 11th round (335 overall) of the 2013 draft. Farinaro has made steady progress during his 4 years in the Cardinal organization.

WHIP: Spencer Trayner, 0.82 (34.1 innings). The 21 year old Trayner, who played college ball at North Carolina was drafted in the 25th round (766 overall).

Saves: Brady Bowen, 9. Bowen was signed as non-drafted free agent by Cardinals, June 15, 2015. He appeared in 18 games in relief for the Spikes (0-0, 3.23 ERA, 1.14 WHIP). He also appeared in 6 games for Peoria in the Midwest League.

All Star Game: Five Spikes were named to the South team for the NYPL All Star played at Duchess Stadium, home of the the Hudson Valley Renegades on August 16. Those named included infielders Tommy Edman (see above), Elier Rodriguez  (279/.356/.355; drafted 2013 in 14th round) and Danny Hudzina (.239/.290/.361; drafted 2016, 10th round), as well as catcher Jeremy Martinez (see above BA leader) and relief pitcher Eric Carter (2-0, 2.38 ERA, 0.97 WHIP; drafted 2016, 26 round).

Complete season stats are available at the team website.

The Stedler Report is not affiliated with Minor League Baseball or the New-York-Penn League.