Playing baseball on Cape Cod is a dream come true for so many young players and playing in the historic and prestigious Cape Cod Baseball League is the pinnacle of summer baseball for a number of collegiate players.

For 100 years, the best collegiate baseball players in the nation congregate on the Cape for a summer of baseball. The 10-team circuit is the premier collegiate baseball league in the nation and has produced over 1600 players, who have gone on to play major league baseball, including 350 currently playing right now. Current stars include Aaron Judge, Kyle Schwarber, Pete Alonso, Chris Sale and Shane Bieber just to name a few. In addition, major league greats such as Jeff Reardon, Thurman Munson, Buster Posey, Robin Ventura, Paul O'Neill, Jason Varitek, Nomar Garciaparra, Evan Longoria are just a few of the tremendous ballplayers to go through the Cape League and onto stardom at the highest level. 

The rosters are filled out by players from NCAA Division I powerhouses, but there are also a few teams that boast representatives from Division III schools as well. The Falmouth Commodores, a charter member of the league in 1923, has been home to three players this summer, who all played for Wheaton College (Mass.) in 2022. All three have been lauded by the New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference, the American Baseball Coaches Association and D3baseball.com as some of the best players in the region with a pair of Pitcher of the Year honorees and an Offensive Player of the Year. Wheaton is the only Division III school in the nation to make the claim of having three players from its program compete in the Cape League this season. Stephen Quigley '22, Cavan Brady '23 and Ryan McCarroll '25 all made their respective Cape League debuts this summer.

"It's pretty cool to see the three of them back in the same dugout together," said Wheaton Baseball Head Coach Eric Podbelski. "They're great teammates and were/are impactful players here at Wheaton. They share a love of the game, they each love to compete and all three work very hard to be the best they can be. They're getting the opportunity to not only play in an iconic summer league but also to play for Coach (Jeff) Trundy, a true local legend and a man who is respected by all who know him."

Coach Trundy is a three-time Cape League Coach of the Year and has guided Falmouth to a 24-18-2 record, while clinching a spot in the playoffs as a member of the league's West Division.

Quigley graduated from Wheaton in 2022 as the NEWMAC and American Baseball Coaches Association Region 1 Pitcher of the Year and a Third Team All-America selection. With one year of eligibility remaining, the shortstop-converted pitcher took his talents to Division I University of Connecticut in 2023, where he helped the No. 10 Huskies post a 44-17 record, including 15-5 in BIG EAST play, while earning  All-BIG EAST First Team honors. This past season, McCarroll picked up the mantle from Quigley and was tabbed the NEWMAC and ABCA Region 1 Pitcher of the Year and earned Second Team All-America accolades, while Brady received First Team All-America designation after being named the ABCA Region 1 and NEWMAC Player of the Year. 

"It's pretty special to be able to play in the Cape Cod League," explained Quigley. 

"Growing up I would come to Falmouth Commodores games, so it's pretty cool to be able to play for the team I watched growing up. It's great to see other Wheaton players like Cavan and Ryan be able to play in the league and show they are good enough to compete with players from big time Division 1 programs. It speaks to how well Coach Podbelski prepares us at Wheaton to compete at the highest level and reach our full potential. Coach Podbelski is the best at what he does. He develops winners and gets the best out of his players."

"It was awesome to play with Stephen Quigley and Cavan Brady again," remarked McCarroll. "It was good to see some familiar faces and see the strides they've made in their development in their time after Wheaton. I think this shows that Wheaton Baseball can hang and compete with the best of them. We're prepared extremely well by Coach Podbelski. He always preaches to us that the game doesn't change and if we go out each and every day and compete and play our game the way we know we can, then we can succeed no matter what the scenario is. I think that this helps to prove that point."

McCarroll has been a mainstay on the Commodores pitching staff this summer, with four starting assignments, including a sparkling debut against Yarmouth-Dennis, where he surrendered just one hit over five innings to go with six strikeouts and three walks to earn his first Cape League victory on July 9. He's walked just six batters in 18 ? innings this season, while striking out 16 to go with a pair of wins.

"It's such a great opportunity to come out and play in a league like the Cape Cod Collegiate Baseball League," exclaimed McCarroll. "It's a great learning experience for me, I'm going up against the best competition in the country and the experiences I'm getting here will go a long way in the development of my game." 

Quigley has made four appearances for Falmouth, while coming out of the pen for three of them. The right-hander has fanned eight batters and issued a pair of free passes, while owning a 3.85 earned run average in 9 ?  innings of work to go with a pair of victories.

"It's an honor to share the field with former Wheaton teammates and represent the Wheaton baseball program in the best summer league in the country," said Quigley.

Brady's time with the Commodores was brief, due to an injury, seeing action in back-to-back nights at shortstop on June 19-20 to give the Falmouth squad a Wheaton flavor with three Lyons in the dugout. 

"It's a very cool experience getting to play with some of the top competition in the country," explained Brady. 

"I grew up going to Cape Cod and always viewed the league very highly so it's been a dream come true to get the opportunity to compete at such a high level. One of my favorite things of the whole experience is taking in as much as you can from the guys around you. There are many ways that people can be successful in this sport and a lot of Wheaton players can credit Coach Podbelski for helping us grow as players and people. His ability to teach the game of baseball from both a strategy and mental perspective are unmatched, which is why we have seen Wheaton baseball alumni doing great things after their time with him."

In addition to three Wheaton baseball players, Falmouth is also home to former Wheaton Associate Athletic Trainer and Strength and Conditioning Coach, Laura Murphy, who is in her 12th season with the Commodores.

Falmouth takes on the Hyannis Harbor Hawks in a best-of-three game series tonight at Mckeon Field at 6:00 p.m. in Hyannis to open the Cape Cod Baseball League playoffs. For the folks at Wheaton, the Commodores will definitely inspire a rooting interest from Norton.