College players from across the country have enrolled in a summer baseball class with the Solano Mudcats. Third baseman Preston Freeman (above) came from Cisco College in Texas and made a diving catch of a foul pop-up in Saturday’s game against the California Red Tails at Solano Community College.
The Mudcats have several new players along with a new home ballpark and league (Pacific Empire). Joining the Mudcats in the PEL are the Humboldt Crabs, Lincoln Potters, West Coast Kings, Healdsburg Prune Pickers and Medford (Ore.) Rogues. The first PEL game will be Tuesday when the Mudcats host the Kings at 5 p.m.
Saturday’s game, which ended in a 6-6 tie after 11 innings, is one of the non-league contests sprinkled into the schedule. The Mudcats will play 25 PEL games with three-game series July 2-4 at Humboldt and July 9-11 at Medford. The inaugural PEL playoffs will be July 30 to Aug. 2.
Mudcats head coach Kyle Stafford put a map to good use in finding players from Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa; the University of Mary in Bismarck, N.D.; Concordia University in Seward, Neb.; Regus University in Denver; Utah Valley and Southern Indiana. In 2022, the Mudcats landed Hunter Baldwin from Harvard.
Anthony Galindo comes from Texas A&M-Texarkana, but he is just coming home. The Dixon High graduate pitched two seasons at SCC before going to Texas. The right-hander had a tough go of it Saturday by allowing four runs in two innings. The game ended in a 6-6 tie after 11 innings.
