RCBL alums made a name for themselves in the Minors, MLB, NBA and NFL

By David Driver, Special Correspondent
Very few baseball players make it to the Major Leagues. One recent online report said that less than one percent of high school baseball seniors reach the Single-A level, let alone the big leagues.

But alums of the RCBL have fared well for themselves, with several making it to Triple-A and being just a phone call from the majors. Other former players excelled in other sports at the highest level possible.

And there is another class of possible big leaguers knocking on the door as this season.

These former RCBL stars have played at the Triple-A level for at least part of the 2024 season: University of Virginia product and infielder Tanner Morris (Stuarts Draft) with the Blue Jays and Twins; Liberty University’s Will Wagner (Montezuma) with the Astros; Adam Hackenberg (Montezuma) with the White Sox; and ex-Shenandoah University pitcher Darrell Thompson (New Market), a Winchester native who made it to Triple-A with the Brewers at the age of 29 after never being drafted. Wagner, the son of All-Star closer Billy Wagner, hit .309 with five homers and 37 RBI in his first 66 games for Triple-A Sugar Land this season in the Houston system.

Last season in the minors, Hackenberg spent part of the year playing for former JMU and Shenandoah star Lorenzo Bundy at Double-A Birmingham.

“Hack can catch and throw and he made some improvement offensively last year; I love him,” Bundy notes of Hackenberg, who hit .276 with Birmingham in 2023 and played 35 games at the Triple-A level in the Chicago system.

When the pandemic called off the Valley League season in 2020, Hackenberg was one of several top college players that found a home for the summer in the RCBL.

Thompson was 2-1 with an ERA of 2.57 in 15 games out of the bullpen with one save for Triple-A Nashville when he was released by the Brewers on June 24. From Crozet, Morris was traded by Toronto to Minnesota in late March and he went on the voluntary retired list on May 1 after hitting .133 with Triple-A St. Paul in the Twins’ system this season.

Hackenberg hit .194 in his first 41 games this season for Triple-A Charlotte and he also saw time with Double-A Birmingham and in five games in the Arizona Complex League in the Chicago system.

Wagner has appeared in Spring Training with the Astros the past two years.

Not far behind perhaps is former JMU star Chase DeLauter, the MVP of the RCBL in 2020 with Broadway. He was a first-round pick of Cleveland in 2022, made it to Double-A last year and is one of the top prospects in the Guardians’ system and the entire minors. After playing in the RCBL, DeLauter jumped up to the prestigious Cape Cod League the next summer. “Of course, I am going to try and take advantage of every opportunity I can get. If I have a chance to play in the best amateur summer league in the country, I am going to do it,” he said in an interview in 2021.

DeLauter hit .194 in his first 17 games with Double-A Akron the Cleveland system in 2024 before going on the Injured List with foot problems. He returned to the active list on July 20 with a rehab assignment in the Arizona Complex League in the Cleveland system.

Former Elkton player Bradley Hanner also reached Double-A Akron in the Cleveland system in 2023. In his first 29 games out of the bullpen in 2024 for Akron he was 7-3 with an ERA of 4.12 and two saves. He was drafted by the Twins in 2019 out of Patrick & Henry Community College in Martinsville. 

Outside of the majors, dozens of RCBL stars have played minor league ball before or after their stints here in Virginia.

That includes players who suited up with the Bridgewater Reds: pitcher Chris Huffman, a Fort Defiance and JMU product who reached Triple-A with the Padres in 2017; Tom Bocock, another JMU player who played in the minors with the Cardinals in the 1980s; Harold Knicely, who spent time in the minors with the Covington Astros in 1974; and TA and JMU product Ty McFarland, who reached the Single-A level with Tampa in the Yankees’ farm system in 2015. Huffman was the MVP and Pitcher of the Year in the RCBL with Bridgewater this year.

Another notable Bridgewater infielder didn’t play pro ball – but former TA coaching legend Ray Heatwole is a member of the Virginia High School League Hall of Fame and in December was honored in a similar way by the Virginia Baseball Coaches Association. He went into the RCBL Hall of Fame in 2016, eight years after going in the Bridgewater College athletic Hall of Fame; Heatwole was among those that threw out the first pitch in Grottoes at the RCBL All-Star game in early July to mark the 100th anniversary of the league. 

Bocock hit second in the lineup back of leadoff hitter Vince Coleman when the latter stole 145 bases for Macon in 1983. Coleman would go on to steal 752 bases in the big leagues. Coleman signed a bat for Bocock that called the TA grad the best No. 2 hitter in baseball. “I still have it,” Bocock says.

Former Bucks of Clover Hill to play pro ball include pitcher Ian Ostlund, who reached Triple-A with Detroit and St. Louis; Western Albemarle High’s Hunter Wyant, an infielder in the Marlins’ system in 2001-02 who also played for Elkton; lefty pitcher Jimmy Hamilton, who peaked at Triple-A with Cleveland and Baltimore and also played for Bridgewater; Turner Ashby grad Clint Curry, a third-round draft pick of the Rangers who played in the minors for Texas from 1982-83; Sam Hess, another TA alum who spent time in the minors with the Twins and Phillies from 1970-73; catcher Aaron Lough, who was in the minors with the Twins in 1998-99; and Addison Bowman, the Virginia Tech product who was in the minors with the Red Sox from 2002-03. His father, Ed, was a long-time shortstop at Clover Hill and went in the RCBL Hall of Fame in 2015.

Shenandoah had several top players in the early 1980s, including Larry Sheets and Bundy. Another one was RCBL Hall of Famer Jeff McCauley, who played at EMU and with Sheets in Bluefield in the Appalachian League for part of the 1980 season. 

Bundy was a catcher and first baseman for the Indians in 1982 after he made his pro debut in the minors with Texas the year before.

“After getting released in spring training by the Rangers, I give thanks to Mike Jenkins for talking me into playing for Shenandoah and recharging my love for the game of baseball,” Bundy noted this year. “No doubt the RCBL jump started my career into professional baseball that will enter year 43 in 2024.”
Bundy signed with Pittsburgh after his stint in the RCBL and reached the Triple-A level with the Pirates as a player. He has managed in Mexico for nearly two decades.

Former Shenandoah third baseman Dennis Knight was drafted out of JMU by the Texas Rangers in 1983. Another former Shenandoah player, Barry Davis, just concluded his 20th season as the baseball coach at Division I Rider in New Jersey and has won 483 games there. He also played for Twin County in 1987.
“The County League as we called it, was one of the best experiences of my baseball playing life,” according to Davis, after attending the American Baseball Coaches Association national convention earlier this year in Dallas. “As a Bridgewater College baseball player, it allowed me to compete and improve my game. AC Jenkins was my coach at Shenandoah, he was tremendous. He let me play and was always encouraging and supportive. I grew under AC.  What a great coach is supposed to be.  I played with great guys. Too many to list here. I give a lot of credit to (former Bridgewater College star) Darren Maynard, who helped me get on the team and then he mentored me throughout. My double play partner was Timmy Comer.  Fiery, competitive, tough. He epitomized the County League. Carpooling from Charlottesville (his hometown) for every game. Long nights ... I would not change a thing.  I just loved it."

Tim Comer made a name for himself in another sport and not as a player. The former Shenandoah player has been a high-level Division I referee in college basketball for several years. Tim Comer also played for Twin County. 

Thompson is not the only Shocker to pitch in the minors recently. That list also includes JMU’s Colton Harlow, who appeared in the Rockies’ system from 2018-19.

From another era, Broadway High’s Tommie Martz played in the minors from 1960-68 and reached the Triple-A level with the Yankees as an outfielder during an era when Mickey Mantle and Tom Tresh were outfielders in New York. Martz hit .303 in 827 games in the minors then returned to the Valley and played for Twin County.

Former Grottoes star Austin Nicely was drafted by Houston out of Spotswood High and pitched in the minors and in Indy ball from 2013-22; he is now the pitching coach at Bridgewater College. 
“The best part of the RCBL would be the range of talent of the players from all walks of the game of baseball,” according to Nicely, “from good high school players, to Division III to Division I to former pro guys, and then guys that just enjoy getting to continue to play the game of baseball. Then you add in teams rooted in local small towns and communities where a lot of guys get to play and compete in their hometowns. It’s a special dynamic. The competition, the support and fan bases are hard to find anywhere else in the country.”

Tinker Kiser, a graduate of Stuarts Draft and a pitching standout at Virginia Tech, excelled on the mound for Grottoes and Harrisonburg in the RCBL. “It wasn’t until after I got released that I played in the RCBL,” according to Kiser, who played in the minors for the Rangers in 1976 then reached Single-A with Kinston in the Carolina League with Toronto in 1979.

Another former pitcher for the Cardinals did not play pro baseball but did well for himself – Dell Curry, once drafted by the Orioles, was a basketball star at Virginia Tech and played in the NBA from 1986-2002 and averaged 11.7 points per contest. A new generation of fans know him as the father of NBA MVP superstar Steph Curry, who spent time visiting his grandparents in Grottoes when he was younger.

Other Montezuma products who saw time at the pro level include Jono Brooks, who was in the Frontier League from 2007-10; Keegan Oliver, a Bridgewater College standout who played in the Draft League with Trenton in 2023; Alex Foltz, who played Indy ball from 2011-13 after finishing up at JMU; TA and Coastal Carolina star Daniel Bowman, who played Indy ball and in the Arizona farm system from 2012-14; and Nolan Shafer, who pitched in 66 games with Indy ball teams from 2009-11, mostly in the Frontier League. 

The old Linville dynasty, with three titles in a row from 1979-81, had two lefty pitchers in the 1980s with pro experience. Charlottesville native Justin Gannon, after starring at JMU, pitched in the minors with the Orioles from 1984-85. JMU’s Tim Semones played Indy ball in California in 1979 then returned to the area to play for Linville.

Sparky Simmons, one of the best lefty pitchers in the RCBL, was in the Cleveland system from 1958-60 before playing for Linville. He was 13-9 at Class C Minot with an ERA under 3.00 in 1960.

Other former Linville players who saw time in the minors, according to baseballreference.com, were John Radosevich, who was with the Dodgers from 1965-68; Mike Lacasse, who played for Bluefield in the Baltimore system in 1978 after getting drafted out of JMU the year before; Jim Barbe, an infielder for the Dukes who reached Double-A in the late 1970s with Texas; Barnes Yelverton, who was in the White Sox system in 1973; slugger Donnie Bowman, who hit 20 homers in both 1981 and 1982 at Double-A Charlotte in the Orioles’ system; Harrisonburg High grad Chris Hart, who reached Double-A in the Oakland system; and fellow Blue Streak Jeff Leatherman, an infielder in the minors with the Pirates.
Both Hart and Leatherman played in college for Auburn, and Leatherman still ranks among the top 10 in some career categories at the school.

Richard (Dick) Gilkerson, who also played for Linville, pitched at the Class C and Class D level for the Detroit Tigers in 1948-49. He posted an impressive mark of 12-4 with an ERA of 1.69 with Troy in 1948 in the Alabama State League. According to his obituary, he was living in Bridgewater when he passed away in 2022 at the age of 92. 

Josh Tutwiler – who played for Broadway and Clover Hill – did not make the pro level as a pro player but excelled at ODU and was later an assistant coach at VCU and William & Mary. More importantly, he survived a near fatal fall in Missouri while hiking in 2013 and returned to play again in the RCBL.

“After my accident, I played a few games with Clover Hill that next summer to prove to myself, if nothing else, I could still do it,” he noted.

Besides Morris, another minor leaguer who played for Stuarts Draft is Jeremy Fitzgerald, who pitched in the minors for the Braves in 2012-13. He reached Single-A in the South Atlantic League after playing for Danville in the Appalachian League. 

Harry Harlow, an RCBL Hall of Famer, played for the Hairston Braves and in the minors for the Pirates in 1963-64. He pitched in 11 games with six starts for Gastonia in North Carolina his last season of pro ball. 
Will Decker, who played at Roanoke College and for Elkton, has played Indy ball for several years. Last season he was with Gary, Indiana in the American Association and hit .281. Through July 24 of this year, he had played in two games for Gary. 

Other former Blue Sox to play pro ball include JMU’s Brent Metheny, who played in the minors and Indy ball from 2003-2011; Jordan Ballard, a VMI product who was in the Colorado system from 2010-11; Thomas Cowgill, who played in the minors with the Twins in 2006; ex-Longwood standout Jeremy Knicely, who played in the minors for the Blue Jays in 2003; former Harrisonburg High student Casey Lambert, who played in the Colorado system from 2001-03; Warren County High grad Yates Hall, who pitched in the Cardinals system from 1994-98 and reached Double-A; and Buck Gordon, a former Bridgewater College catcher who played in the Gulf Coast and New-York Penn leagues in the Cubs’ farm system in 1995-96. He is one of just a few BC products to get drafted.

Another notable Blue Sox alumni: Kyle Long, who went to high school at St. Anne’s Belfield in Charlottesville and played in the NFL for the Chicago Bears from 2013-19. He is the son of Howie Long, an NFL Hall of Famer and long-time broadcaster at the national level. His brother, Chris, played football at Virginia, in the NFL and was part of the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame class of 2024. Lambert also went to St. Anne’s after transferring from Harrisonburg High.

This doesn’t include the RCBL alums who played in the majors: Jerry May, Wayne Comer, Alan Knicely, Larry Sheets, Daryl Irvine, Reggie Harris, Dana Allison, Travis Harper, Erik Kratz, Michael Schwimmer, Brenton Doyle and Brenan Hanifee.

Editor’s notes: David Driver played baseball at Turner Ashby (class of 1980), one year at EMU and was part of the 1982 Clover Hill team that won the RCBL title. He is the former sports editor of the Daily News-Record and co-author of “From Tidewater to the Shenandoah: Snapshots from Virginia’s Rich Baseball Legacy,” available on Amazon and at daytondavid.com. Some information for this report originally appeared in the Virginia baseball book. Did we miss any pro players? If so email [email protected]

RCBL and affiliated minors or Indy ball players, with highest level reached though 2024 season for active players:
​
Bridgewater - Chris Huffman (Triple A), Tom Bocock (Single A), Harold Knicely (rookie), Ty McFarland (high Single A)
Broadway - Chase DeLauter (Double A)
Clover Hill - Ian Ostlund (Triple A), Hunter Wyant (Single A), Jimmy Hamilton (Triple A), Clint Curry (Single A), Sam Hess (Single A), Aaron Lough (high Single A), Addison Bowman (high Single A)
Elkton – Bradley Hanner (Double A), Will Decker (Indy), Brent Metheny (Indy), Jordan Ballard (Single A), Michael Cowgill (high Single A), Jeremy Knicely (Single A), Yates Hall (Double A), Buck Gordon (Single A), Casey Lambert (Double A), Kris Lalk (Indy), Robbi Moose (rookie ball), Brandon Withers (high Single A).
Grottoes - Tinker Kiser (Single A), Austin Nicely (Single A)
Hairston - Harry Harlow (Single A)
Linville - Tim Semones (Indy ball), Justin Gannon (Single A), John Radosevich (high Single A), Sparky Simmons (Class C), Donnie Bowman (Double A), Mike Lacasse (Rookie), Jim Barbe (Double A), Barnes Yelverton (Single A), Chris Hart (Double A), Jeff Leatherman (Single A)
Montezuma - Will Wagner (Triple A), Adam Hackenberg (Triple A), Keegan Oliver (Draft League), Nolan Shafer (Indy ball), Alex Foltz (Indy), Daniel Bowman (Double A), Jono Brooks (Indy)
New Market/Twin County - Darrell Thompson (Triple A), Colton Harlow (Single A), Tommie Martz (Triple A)
Shenandoah - Jeff McCauley (rookie), Lorenzo Bundy (Triple A), Dennis Knight (drafted by Texas) 
Stuarts Draft - Tanner Morris (Triple A), Jeremy Fitzgerald (Single A)
Note: some players may have played for more than one team. 
RCBL and MLB players, with year of MLB debut and with what team:
Jerry May, debut with Pirates in 1964, Towers
Wayne Comer, 1967 with Tigers, Grottoes
Alan Knicely, with Astros in 1979, Bridgewater
Larry Sheets, with Orioles in 1984, Shenandoah
Daryl Irvine, with Red Sox in 1990, Grottoes
Reggie Harris, with Oakland in 1990, Fishersville
Dana Allison, with Oakland in 1991, Linville
Travis Harper, 2000 with Tampa Bay, NA
Erik Kratz, with Pirates in 2010, Broadway
Michael Schwimmer, with Phillies in 2011, Elkton
Brenton Doyle, with Rockies in 2023, New Market
Brenan Hanifee, with the Tigers in 2023, Clover Hill