The Florida Collegiate Summer Baseball League came calling for Chris Judd, and the Curry College pitcher/second baseman from Peabody readily accepted the invitation to play for the Orlando Suns.
He signed the contract the team sent him and is all set to report once his college season ends - one that he hopes concludes in the NCAA Division 3 tournament.
"It is just like the Cape Cod League; 85 percent of the players are from Division 1 schools," said Judd, who posted a perfect 6-0 record with a 1.55 ERA at Curry, being named to the Commonwealth Coast Conference Second Team All-Stars last season.
"I think it all came about from playing in the ING (Baseball Academy in Bradenton, Fla.) last summer. I'll report some time in May, depending on how far Curry goes. The league runs through the middle of August."
Judd said the FCSL players live with host families and are given jobs. It is a wooden bat league, where Judd expects to play second as well as pitch for the Suns.
Judd has also been working out for an Anaheim Angels scout at Strike One in Danvers.
He still has two years of eligibility left for the Colonels because he transferred in from Southern New Hampshire after spending his freshman year there.
Judd, who will go to Orlando will Curry during the team's spring break trip in March, will play with Orlando in the Northern Division of the FCSL. The leauge has been around for five years, expanding to include a Southern Division last summer.
There are seven teams in the league, with the championship game played at Tropicana Field in Tampa, home of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
Judd has been taking it easy in the off season after injuring his shoulder while throwing in Florida last summer.
"I've been resting the shoulder because although it's not a serious injury, I play year-round, so I need to take some time off," said Judd. "I've been running and exercising to stay in shape, but I'm anxious to get going again."
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Louie Williams couldn't have picked a better time to collect his first goal for the Bishop Fenwick hockey team in its 6-0 win over Swampscott on Martin Luther King Day.
Williams happens to live in Swampscott and knows just about every player on the Big Blue team. The game was scoreless midway through the first period and Fenwick was getting outplayed when he was tripped going in on a breakaway, which resulted in a penalty shot.
An unlikely hero, Williams was up to the challenge. He built up speed as he went in alone on Swampscott goalie Tyler Gallagher and beat him with a rising shot into the top of the net as his teammates went wild. A rousing cheer went up from the bench as the players banged their sticks along the boards, and from that point on Fenwick was in command.
"He's a very popular kid on our team. The bench erupted when he scored," said Fenwick coach Bo Tierney after the game. "They were so happy for him that I had to calm them down and get them focused on the game again.
"There's no question that goal gave us an emotional boost and put fire in the kids' eyes."
Williams knew the pressure was on, and he knew he would be kidded for months if he didn't bury the puck.
"I've skated with all those Swampscott kids all my life until I came to Fenwick," said Williams, a junior third line player.
"I knew all along I was going for the upper corner, but I really did feel the pressure. If I didn't make that goal I would hear about it all the time back home. No question, that was the biggest goal of my life."
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Teagan Haggerty, a former Salem High girls lacrosse player, has been chosen to captain the McGill University women's team in Montreal again next fall.
A junior goaltender and league all-star, Haggery was re-elected by her teammates last weekend along with Annie Enns of Ontario and newly-elected Jacquie Millette of North Hampton.
Lacrosse is a fall sport in Canada, beginning in August with tryouts. McGill made it to the playoffs this past fall, but lost a close game in the quarterfinal round.
Jean DePlacido is a part-time writer and columnist for The Salem News. Contact her at jmdeplacido@aol.com.
