Daniel Aldrich is one of eight college players selected to participate in the 2011 TD Ameritrade College Home Run Derby. The second annual event will take place live at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha, Nebraska Saturday night, July 2, while event will be televised nationwide on CBS Sunday, July 3, at 2 p.m. EDT.

Aldrich will be on CBS Sunday at 2 p.m.

Aldrich adds this selection to his already long list of accolades.

In 2011, Aldrich has garnered All-American selections by the NCBWA, Louisville Slugger and Baseball America. He was chosen the NCBWA National Freshman of the Year, as a Freshman All-American First Team selection and a Second Team All-American pick.

Aldrich was named Collegiate Baseball’s National Freshman of the Year and was a semifinalist for the 2011 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award, awarded to the nation’s top amateur baseball player. Aldrich has garnered Louisville Slugger Second Team All-American and First Team Freshman All-American honors, as well as All-America Third Team distinction from Baseball America.

He was recently named to the 2011 American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA)/Rawlings All-America Third Team. The honor marks the fourth time this season Aldrich has landed All-American accolades and he was also named to the ABCA All-Atlantic Region First Team.

Aldrich was named the 2011 Southern Conference Freshman of the Year by the Southern Conference Sports Media Association and the league’s coaches, as well as being named to the All-SoCon First Team.

At the College of Charleston this spring, he led all Division I freshmen in home runs with 22, RBIs with 73, slugging percentage (.739) and total bases (164). Aldrich also had 25 multi-hit games in 2011 and had a College of Charleston team-best 17-game hitting streak in February and March.

With the Wilmington Sharks so far this summer, Aldrich leads the team with 26 RBI. Aldrich is also tied for the team lead with three home runs, including one in each of his final two games with the Sharks, on Wednesday and Thursday against Florence, before leaving for Omaha.

Joining Aldrich in Omaha will be Victor Roache, a sophomore from Georgia Southern; Andrew Rash, a redshirt sophomore from Virginia Tech University; Doug Shribman, first baseman from Bucknell University; Dylan Pratt, a junior outfielder at East Tennessee State University; Joey DeMichele, a sophomore from Arizona State University; Connor Harrell, a sophomore outfielder from Vanderbilt University and one more player who will join the 2011 field before the start of the event.

The Wilmington Sharks are members of Coastal Plain League, the nation’s hottest summer collegiate baseball league.  Celebrating its 15^th season, The Coastal Plain League features 15 teams playing in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.  The CPL gives college players the chance to refine their skills with the use of wooden bats.  Players are housed with local host families for the summer.  The CPL has had over 700 alumni drafted and 35 alums make their Major League debut thus far.  For more information on the Coastal Plain League, please visit the league website at www.coastalplain.com.

If Friday night’s start turns out to be Chris Mazza’s last with the Wilmington Sharks, the right-hander went out with a bang, throwing the first complete game of his career in the Sharks’ 4-1 win over the Outer Banks Daredevils to open the second half of the 2011 CPL season.

With Minnesota Twins scouts in attendance, the 27^th round draft pick struck out seven batters, including the final out of the game, while allowing only five hits.

Chris Mazza signs autographs for young fans after the win Friday night.

All of the night’s scoring on both sides came in the first inning, with the Daredevils’ Chris Reese doubling to open the game before scoring three batters later on an RBI single.

The Sharks responded with four runs in the bottom of the first on four doubles.

But the night belonged to Mazza.

After four shaky innings that saw him pitching almost exclusively from the stretch, Mazza found his form and sat Outer Banks down 1-2-3 four innings in a row from the fifth through the eighth innings.

“My stuff didn’t feel so good at the beginning of the game,” Mazza said. “But I figured it out from there.”

Even with the mow-down innings late in the game, Mazza needed some help from his teammates in the ninth.

A great play by center fielder Aaron Preston gunned down the first batter in the ninth after the ball was hit into the right-center field gap. Preston slid to cut the ball off before popping up and throwing a bullet to second base well in time for the out.

Mazza walked the next Daredevil before a lineout right at Preston marked out number two in the ninth. An Outer Banks single placed runners at first and second with two outs as Daredevil catcher Mike Thomas stepped in.

“The last guy, I knew I had him,” Mazza said, recalling that he had struck him out on a slider earlier in the game.

Offensively, the Sharks’ Justyn Carter opened the bottom of the first by reaching on a hit by pitch before scoring all the way from first on Ricardo Lizcano’s RBI double that short-hopped the left field wall.

Jake Mayers followed Lizcano with a double of his own to give the Sharks runners at second and third. After two strikeouts, Emilio Pagan joined in on the double parade, with his two-RBI double plating Lizcano and Mayers.

Pagan didn’t stay at second long, as Alex Freedman drilled the first pitch he saw for an RBI-double that plated Pagan.

After the first inning, the Sharks added just three more hits and four baserunners overall, but the three-run lead was more than enough for Mazza.

The Sharks take Saturday off before returning to the Shark Tank on Sunday, July 3, when they host Florence. Gates open at 6 p.m. with the first pitch set for 7:05, with postgame fireworks presented by Taco Bell following the game.

Could be final Sharks start

The Wilmington Sharks have announced that tonight, Friday, July 1, 2011, Chris Mazza will be the Sharks’ starting pitcher against the Outer Banks Daredevils. Gates open for tonight’s game at 6 p.m. with first pitch scheduled for 7:05.

Chris Mazza is scheduled for what could be his final Sharks start tonight.

Mazza was selected in the 27^th Round of the 2011 Major League Baseball Draft by the Minnesota Twins on June 8.

Friday night's game is also Firsty Friday with $1 beverages throughout the game and the first 500 kids will recieve a free MLB batting glove presented by Coastal Athletics.

The Clayton, Ca. native plays collegiately at Menlo College.

With the Sharks in 2011, Mazza has appeared in six games with four starts to his credit. Heading into tonight’s game, Mazza sports a 1-2 record and a 2.45 ERA. He has pitched a total of 25.2 innings while allowing just eight runs compared to 24 strikeouts.

In his last start June 24 at Peninsula with a Twins scout in attendance, Mazza tossed six innings of five-hit baseball while allowing only one run in the Sharks’ 3-2 win over the Pilots.

The Wilmington Sharks are members of Coastal Plain League, the nation’s hottest summer collegiate baseball league.  Celebrating its 15^th season, The Coastal Plain League features 15 teams playing in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.  The CPL gives college players the chance to refine their skills with the use of wooden bats.  Players are housed with local host families for the summer.  The CPL has had over 700 alumni drafted and 35 alums make their Major League debut thus far.  For more information on the Coastal Plain League, please visit the league website at www.coastalplain.com.