Happy Valley Hardball with a sabermetrics twist

Nittany Lion single-season home run king recognized for his three long balls on Friday. UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Former Penn State catcher Ben Heath (Huntersville, N.C.) was recognized for his three home run performance on Friday with a front page story on MiLB.com, the official website of Minor League Baseball. Heath went deep in each [...]

Vinny Pezzimenti Ben Heath’s return to State College was brief, uneventful and, surprisingly, featured no fanfare whatsoever. His departure, however, was far more fruitful. Heath, the former Penn State baseball standout, learned early Saturday morning that his homecoming at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park would be cancelled. The reason: Heath was being promoted from the [...]

By Darryl Grumling, Special to the Mercury Earlier this season, Craig Clark was successfully scaling the rugged mountains of minor league baseball. Over the past two months, though, the Spring-Ford graduate has had to deal with some obstacles which have for the moment curtailed his climb. Clark, a 25-year-old left-hander, saw a promising start for [...]

By Ryan Loy Collegian Staff Writer Penn State and Nebraska’s baseball teams have combined for more than 6,000 games played and nearly 4,000 wins since both programs began playing more than 100 years ago. Yet, the two programs have never faced each other on the diamond. That should change in two seasons, when Nebraska begins [...]

Not many paths to Coca-Cola Park and the Triple-A All-Star game have taken as many turns and twists as Nate Bump’s. From south Florida to Shreveport, La., to State College to Camden, N.J. to, now, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, the 33-year-old Towanda, Pa., native has journeyed down almost every highway professional baseball has to offer. [...]

by R.J. Anderson The book on David Aardsma was always the same: power arm with a blessed fastball, but wild command and an affinity for fly balls – and by extension, home runs. He was essentially a major league journeyman. The former first round pick out of Rice had spent the first few seasons of [...]

A club-record four Lehigh Valley IronPigs were chosen to participate in the 2010 Triple-A All-Star Game presented by Lehigh Valley Health Network on July 14 at Coca-Cola Park, the International League announced today. Three IronPigs – 1B Andy Tracy, 3B Cody Ransom and reliever Scott Mathieson – were elected to the starting lineup while RHP [...]

Cory is now playing ball with the Florence (KY) Freedom and the team did a story on his family and their baseball connection for Father’s Day. FLORENCE, KY – Baseball has long been synonymous with the bond between father and son. The difference between coach and spectator mirrors the tightrope all fathers walk as both [...]

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Former Penn State catcher Ben Heath (Huntersville, N.C.) continues to rack up the postseason honors as he was named a Pro-Line Athletic National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Third Team All-American on Wednesday. It marks Heath’s third All-America honor after being named to both the Louisville Slugger and PING!Baseball second teams. The [...]

From Johnstown’s Our Town Online Just four days after graduating from Richland high school, Austin Urban found himself the most noted young baseball player in Johnstown. Urban, a seventeen year old Ram pitcher was selected in the 27th round of the Major League Baseball first year player draft by the Baltimore Orioles on June 8. [...]

From MLB.com Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu said that right-hander David Aardsma will be his closer moving forward despite a blown save Friday night that saw him drop to 0-4 with a 5.95 ERA this season. But Wakamatsu said he might use Aardsma in more non-save situations to stay sharp. “You’d like to be able to [...]

The Houston Astros announced Sunday the signing of Penn State power-hitting catcher Ben Heath, the team’s fifth-round pick in the 2010 First-Year Player Draft. Heath, 21, led the Nittany Lions in most offensive categories this season, hitting .369 with a school-record 19 homers, 57 RBI, 53 runs scored, 16 doubles, 148 total bases and a [...]

Heath named to second All-America team with numerous postseason honors still to be announced. UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The awards and accolades continue to roll in for Penn State junior catcher Ben Heath (Huntersville, N.C.), who was named a PING!Baseball Second Team All-American on Friday. It already marks Heath’s second All-America honor, along with Louisville [...]

From the Tribune-Democrat Orioles pick Richland graduate in draft Mike Mastovich mmastovich@tribdem.com JOHNSTOWN — Richland High School’s Austin Urban had heard he might be picked anywhere from the fourth to the eighth round of Tuesday’s Major League Baseball first-year player draft. The 17-year-old Penn State recruit also knew he might go later. There’s no exact [...]