Marcus earns Perfect Game 1st team summer college All-American

By Bob Elliott

Canadian Baseball Network

The best of the best summers on the diamond belonged to players from college powerhouses.

Players from NCAA Division I programs and returning to the likes of the Tennessee Vols, Iowa Hawkeyes, UC Santa Barbara Gauchos, UC Irvine Anteaters and Grand Canyon Antelopes made the Perfect Game summer collegiate All-American team.

And at first base was David Marcus (Whitby, Ont.) a PG First-Team All-American from the NCAA Division II California University of Pennsylvania. 

Marcus was named the Prospect loop’s MVP and Top Pro Prospect, as well as the top first baseman in the East Division. 

Before entering his senior year at the richly-named, but oddly located Cal U of Pennsylvania Vulcans from California, Pa., Marcus spend hit summer months playing for the Butler BlueSox in Butler Penn. He won 2/3 of the triple crown in the Prospect League.

A graduate of Toronto Mets, who played for coach Ryan McBride, he led with 11 homers and 49 RBIs, while finishing fourth with a .363 average (81-for-223) in 60 games with a 1.025 OPS. 

Players from 20 different summer leagues were represented on the three Perfect Game All-America teams and Honorable Mention list. 

Marcus set single-season franchise record for homers, totaled league-high marks with 18 doubles and a .601 slugging percentage. He didn’t homer until his eighth game when he hit a two-run shot for a 2-1 lead over the Chillicothe Paints and four innings later he went deep again.

Marcus and the rest of the BlueSox hit at pitcher friendly Kelly Automotive Park with its 425-foot perimeter. He had seven homers at home ... as a means of comparison seven Prospect teams didn’t match his home run total. He had a 15-consecutive-game hitting streak, longest in the league, two shy of the BlueSox’ record. 

Marcus earned All-PSAC laurels for the second-straight year this spring. He tied the single-season school record with 15 homers and broke the school mark with 62 RBIs. The 6-foot-0 senior also shattered his career high with a .391 average (61-for-156), which was nearly 70 points higher than his previous career mark.

A three-year starter, Marcus also led the Vulcans with a .769 slugging percentage while posting a .445 on-base percentage, 27 extra-base hits and 19 walks.  He belted nine of his 15 homers during PSAC West play in the spring and totaled 34 RBI in 28 league games.

Marcus enters his senior campaign ranked just outside the top 10 all-time in school history with 113 RBIs, while also boasting a .350 career average (140-for-400).

LHP Jack Dennis (Scarborough, Ont.) another Toronto Mets grad, led the Vulcans last spring with a 4.06  5-1 record and a 4.06 ERA in nine starts as he walked 26 and struck out 48 in 57 2/3 innings. Dennis won the seventh-annual Bruce Dal Canton pitching award, which goes to a Vulcan hurler who exemplifies greatness of character. Dennis won for a second-straight year.

C Kris Fielding (Port Perry, Ont.) a former Whitby Chief like Marcus, hit .371 with two doubles and nine RBIs with a .839 OPS/