Four members of the Xenia Scouts, the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate Baseball League team sponsored by Athletes in Action, have been selected to represent the South Team in the 2012 GLSCBL All-Star Game scheduled for July 12 at All Pro Freight Stadium in Avon, Ohio, the home of the Frontier League’s Lake Erie Crushers.
Pitcher Joshua Spears, Catcher Buck Harris, Outfielders Collin Radack and Justin Fahy were chosen by the league’s coaches on the basis of their outstanding play in the first half of the GLSCBL season.
Spears, a 6-1 sophomore at Harding University out of Searcy, Ark., leads the Scouts in appearances and Earned Run Average, posting a 2.84 ERA (eighth best in the league) in 10 relief appearances. Spears’ record heading into the All-Star break is 2-1 with one save. He has recorded 16 strikeouts – the second most among Scouts relievers – in 19 innings, while allowing only seven walks and 13 hits.
Scouts Head Coach J.D. Arndt acknowledged Spears’ importance to the team.
“He has done a really good job and helped us when we’ve needed a guy in later innings,” said Arndt. “He has been in some tight games for us and, as you can tell from his ERA and strikeout totals, he’s gotten the job done.
“I think he has a nice future ahead of him in college baseball because he is a quality young man as
well as a quality pitcher.”
Justin Fahy, of Fargo, N.D., and Olivet Nazarene University, located in Bourbonnais, Ill., will represent Xenia in the All-Star outfield.
Fahy is third on the Scouts with a .330 batting average and leads the team in walks with 18, tied for second in the league. His on-base percentage of .464 is second on the team and good enough for tenth in the league. Fahy is second on the squad and fifth in the league in stolen bases with 13 steals in 16 attempts.
“Justin is the spark plug at the top of the order for our team,” said Arndt. “His OBP is outstanding, and he is a great threat on the bases. He is a hard-nosed player, the kind you just love to watch play.”
Arndt characterizes Fahy as, “very respectful to the game to his teammates. He works hard every 
day and has a great attitude for a baseball player. He is a great young man.”
Buck Harris, a Winterville, Ga., native, has hit over.400 for the Scouts most of the season. The catcher, who plays collegiately at Truett McConnell College in Cleveland, Ga., will enter the game with a .393 average, second on the Scouts. Harris leads the league with an OBP of.521, thanks to his 15 walks to go along with the 22 base hits he has collected in the first half of the season. Harris is also respected as one of the better defensive catchers in the GLSCBL.
“Buck is very dependable both offensively and behind the plate,” Arndt said. “He gets the big hits for us when we need it, and he has the opportunity. I don’t have to worry; Buck will have a good at-bat every time he goes to the plate.”
Collin Radack, from Austin, Texas, and Hendrix College in Conway, Ark., is the 
leading hitter for Xenia. He leads the Scouts with a .400 batting average and has a league-leading 13 doubles. Radack’s slugging percentage of .544 is 11th best in the league. He is tied for third on the Scouts with 11 runs batted in and has also recorded six stolen bases in six tries.
“Once he was given the opportunity, Collin has been hitting from the get-go,” said Arndt. “He leads the league in doubles and has really helped us by driving in and scoring key runs.
“Collin is a really good athlete, but more importantly, he is a really good person and a true asset to our team.”
By Tommy Young, AIA Communications
Photos from individual colleges by teresa young 10. July 2012 07:10
