Ocean City Native Makes Preseason All-Northeast Baseball Team

OCEAN CITY, N.J. — For most baseball fans, Thursday means long-awaited Opening Day. But Ocean City can also take pride in two of its own making the 2019 Rawlings Perfect Game Preseason All-Region teams.

Cole Vanderslice, who attends St. Augustine Preparatory, made the NorthEast Region All High School Senior 2nd Team. Brandon Lashley, of Ocean City High School, earned NorthEast Region Honorable Mention.

Vanderslice helped St. Augustine win its second baseball state championship last June. The pitcher clinched the 1-0 victory on the mound with a man on second, inducing a soft grounder from Delbarton's Pat Harrington, according to the Courier Post.

The right-hander is committed to compete at Villanova. His fastball velocity reaches 90 mph, according to perfectgame.org.

Lashley, last season, went 4-2 with a 1.60 ERA and 77 strikeouts and 43.2 innings, according to The Press of Atlantic City. The pitcher committed last spring to Stony Brook.

The Rawlings-Perfect Game Preseason All-Region selections comprise players from nine regions around the U.S. and Canada.

"Rawlings and Perfect Game are synonymous with the game of baseball, and the preseason awards allow us to recognize and reward these elite athletes for their hard work and contribution to the game,” Mike Thompson, chief marketing officer for Rawlings, said in a statement.

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