STATESBORO – 18 Georgia Southern baseball players have kept busy after the conclusion of the baseball season by playing in various summer baseball leagues around the country. For the next week and a half, we will be checking in on our players and seeing how they are performing over the summer. For today, we will be looking at RHP Ben Johnson, DH Noah Ledford, and RHP Jaylen Paden out of the Cape Cod Baseball League.

The Cape Cod Baseball League is one of the top NCAA-sanctioned summer baseball leagues in the country. The CCBL began in 1885 and in 1985 became the first collegiate summer league to exclusively use wooden bats. The CCBL is made up of 10 teams in two five-team divisions that play a 40-game regular season. Three Eagles take part on two teams in the league, with right-handed pitchers Ben Johnson and Jaylen Paden both being members of the Cotuit Kettleers, and DH Noah Ledford playing with the Chatham Anglers.

BEN JOHNSON
RHP Ben Johnson has appeared in eight games for the Cotuit Kettleers, starting two of those contests. Johnson currently has a 0-1 record but has posted a 1.47 ERA thus far, one of the lowest on the Kettleers team. Johnson has struck out 14 batters in 18.1 innings of work. His best appearance of the season came against Orleans on July 14, where he pitched for five and two-thirds innings, only giving up one hit, no runs, and fanning seven of the 20 batters he faced, posting a 0.95 WHIP. Johnson has been named a Cape Cod Baseball League All-Star this season.

NOAH LEDFORD
1B Noah Ledford played in 21 games for the Chatham Anglers, registering seven hits with a double, two home runs, and scored two runs while scoring five more batters. Ledford also has a stolen base with the Anglers this season. His best performance of the season came in a 7-1 win over Orleans, where he had a two-for-three night with a home run, a walk, and two RBI.

JAYLEN PADEN
RHP/SS Jaylen Paden has appeared in three games this season for the Cotuit Kettleers, starting one game. Paden has pitched for 2.2 innings and has one punch-out with two hits. His last outing on July 19 was tied for his longest of the season, as he pitched a hitless inning, lowering his opposing batting average to .222 for the season.

As of July 21, the Cotuit Kettleers are 18-11-5 in second place in the West Division, sitting a half-game behind the division leading Hyannies Harbor Hawks. The Chatham Anglers are 10-17-7 and are in last place in the East Division, but have the current longest win-streak in the CCBL with four wins in a row.

LINKS
Cape Cod Baseball League
Cotuit Kettleers
Chatham Anglers
Johnson PointStreak Bio
Ledford PointStreak Bio
Paden PointStreak Bio

SCHEDULE
July 21 – Appalachian League – Thomas Ross
July 22 – Cape Cod League – Ben Johnson, Noah Ledford, Jaylen Paden
July 25 – Coastal Plain League – Troy Britts, Jarrett Brown, Blake Evans
July 26 – Perfect Game Collegiate League – J.C. Peacher, JP Tighe, Ga'von Wray
July 27 – Ripken Collegiate League – Sam Blancato, Jarrett Jenkins
July 28 – Sun Belt Collegiate League – Phillip Ard, Preston Gunnell, JD Kaiser, Will Robbins
July 29 – Valley League – Corey Dowdell, Brett Zerbel