BRYAN, Texas — The Collegiate Summer Baseball Invitational is thrilled to announce LaTroy Hawkins as the first Head Coach. The consummate veteran of the MLB brings in a considerable amount of experience, knowledge and veteran leadership to the CSBI.
Hawkins played 21 seasons in the MLB for 11 different franchises with the bulk of those seasons coming with the team that drafted him, the Minnesota Twins. He appeared in 1,042 games compiling a 75-94 record, 4.31 ERA, and striking out 983 batters.
Off the field Hawkins' service makes him an ideal leader for the athletes participating in the CSBI. This is illustrated in his accolades that he received for his work in the community. He was given the Michael Harrison Award for Community Service with the Brewers in 2011 and in 2016 was given the Jack Lang Award which is given to a person that has had a long meritorious service to baseball.
Retiring after the 2015 season Hawkins was hired as a special assistant to the Minnesota Twins organization. He was invited to Spring Training for his first stint as a guest coach. Twins bullpen coach Eddie Guardado had this to say about Hawkins in a 2016 story, “He was kind of coaching when he was playing, for the last couple of years, he did a lot of that. In my eyes, I see him as a coach.”. He now joins the CSBI to coach some talented college prospects this summer.
“We are beyond excited to have Coach Hawkins join the coaching staff” said Brian Nelson the Director of Operations. “I’m excited for our players, they will get to hang out with and learn from a man that has seen it all in the game of baseball.
Coach Hawkins will be joining nearly 100 stand-out college baseball players in early June for the CSBI. The 3 Day event will be broadcasted via a Pay-Per-View subscription which starts at $59.95 and includes the entire 6-game tournament LIVE and through Video on Demand! 5% of the retail price each subscription will be donated to No Kid Hungry (nokidhungry.org).
The College Summer Baseball Invitational is excited to announce that the former Texas Collegiate League Player of the Year, Chase Kemp, will be headed to Bryan/College Station alongside Lamar teammate Jack Dallas on June 1st.
Chase Kemp’s first two seasons at Lamar saw him play in 66 games and start in 38 of them at first base and designated hitter. The left-handed slugger headed into the 2020 season after a 2019 summer where he was named Player of the Year in the Texas Collegiate League. Kemp hit .338 with 11 doubles and four home runs as he helped the Brazos Valley Bombers win a championship. Kemp was only one of four Cardinal players to start in all 17 games this season where he had 12 hits including three doubles and two home runs. “I’m really excited to play”, said Kemp. “This is a great opportunity and should be fun.”
Joining Chase from Lamar is pitcher Jack Dallas. Dallas is from Orange, Texas where he was a two-sport star. The All-State quarterback won two state championships and helped the baseball team reach the state title game. After arriving at Lamar in 2018, he quickly made an impact. His freshman season saw him make 23 appearances and log 42 innings of work and post a 3.59 ERA. He was named a player to watch by D1Baseball.com heading into 2019 in which he appeared in 21 games and led the team in saves. The 2020 shortened season saw Jack work a 3.12 ERA in 8.2 innings and collect 11 strikeouts. “What a great opportunity this is”, said Jack. “Finally, we can play a little baseball.”
Jack Dallas and Chase Kemp will be joining nearly 100 other stand-out college baseball players in early June for the CSBI. The 3 Day event will be broadcasted via a Pay-Per-View subscription which starts at $59.95 and includes the entire 6-game tournament LIVE and through Video on Demand!
