Since today begins the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, I thought it would be appropriate to say that this blog, which mostly discusses college basketball with a little bit of college football thrown in, will now turn to baseball for the summer.

There are a lot of great baseball stories and players from this area.

Latham native Tommy Kahnle (left) has been given a 10-day contract with the Orleans Firebirds of the prestigious Cape Cod Summer League.

Kahnle plays collegiate baseball at Division II Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida.

Kahnle, a 6-foot right-hander, just helped close out the Division II National Championship for the Fighting Knights.

Kahnle was named the Tournament's Most Outstanding Player, popping his fastball in the mid 90s.

After making a transition from the rotation to the bullpen, Kahnle started shining and he closed out the national semifinal and the title game.

Kahnle posted a 1-0 record with two saves at the World Series, retiring 21 of the final 22 batters he faced, including the last 13 in a row.

Kahnle played at Shaker High and graduated in 2007.

He also pitched for the South Troy Dodgers making 30 appearances and posting a record of 9-2 with five saves and a 3.77 earned run average.

Good luck to Tommy.

Also, talking a look around at the other Cape Cod League rosters, I saw two other former Section II stars.

Greg Holle (Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox)
Dave Fischer (Wareham Gateman)

Holle currently plays for Texas Christian University and played for Christian Brothers Academy, while Fischer played at Burnt Hills and now plays at the University of Connecticut.

Both Holle ('07) and Fischer ('08) were drafted following their high school days, but elected to go to college.