One in every seven Major League Baseball athletes played in the Cape Cod Baseball League.
Every summer, collegiate baseball players flock to summer leagues. The best end up gracing Cape Cod Baseball League fields smattered throughout the peninsula a couple hours south of Boston, Massachusetts. Every season there are diamonds found in the rough that use the exposure the league provides to earn a big league contract. This legendary collegiate summer league carries nostalgic reminders of the sport in purest form: that it is a game, to be played for fun.
Photos while on assignment with the Falmouth Commodores during the 2016 summer.

Confidence as Jeff Passantino (24) and company take the field against rival Cotuit. Jeff led the league with a 0.64 Earned Run Average and was the Cape League Pitcher of the Year in one of the most most unexpected storylines that summer. Hailing from Lipscomb University in Nashville, TN, Passantino allowed only seven runs through ten starts.

Corbin Martin hurls high cheese and reacts to the strikeout that closes Game One of the 2016 Cape Cod Baseball League Championship. The victory drew Falmouth one win away form their first title since 1980.

Batting practice warmup for Ryan Chandler during Falmouth's Scouting Day at Fenway Park. Everyone's only goal was to hit one over the Monster. Only Cadyn Grenier did.

Scouting intern Connor Peters heads off the field after being recognized during Volunteer Appreciation Day towards the end of his third summer interning with the team. Connor has lived with cerebral palsy since birth.

The National Anthem playing on Independence Day at Guv Fuller Field while the team sets an attendance record over more than 3,000.

Righty Corbin Martin has some fun with a batgirl who is part of the family hosting Martin for his summer on the Cape. Volunteer host families provide the majority of housing for players.

Tyler Lawrence shone as the starting designated hitter in the All Star game for the west, smashing a home run and going 3-for-4 with a double, single, a couple RBI's and a walk. The Murray State all-time hits leader got his chance to shine on national television.

The submarine set-up man from Kansas, Stephen Villines reacts to getting out of a jam in the bottom of the eighth inning en route to Falmouth staving off elimination in of Game Two Western Division Championship Series.

Assistant coaches Brad Stoll and Jeff Marder getting ready for the start of a June game. Stoll is the winningest head coach in history at Lawrence High School in Lawrence, KA. Marder played with Falmouth during the 2014 and 2015 summers.

Cotuit Kettleers head coach Mike Roberts proceeds to argue for over 12 minutes while Falmouth's Jeff Trundy shuffles dirt during the middle of a July game. Arguing is basically non-existent in the Cape League and managers never get tossed, but due to this skirmish the league changed that the following summer.

Relievers take a snack break from selling 50/50 raffle tickets with Homer, the team mascot, during the middle of a home game at Guv Fuller Field.
First practice of the season at Guv Fuller Field with special visit from the dedicated team fan, Mr. Snow (in red), who hasn't missed a single Commodores game for as long as anyone around the team can remember.

The beloved manager Jeff Trundy. Jeff has over 400 wins coaching Falmouth yet has never won a Cape League title.

Off-day cup-checks for starting pitcher Brady Puckett after Falmouth officially closes out the 2016 regular season and Western Division title at home.

Pitching coach Mike Landry and the the core of Falmouth's starting rotation look on as starting pitcher Brendan King warms up for his second to last start of the regular season. King is local product from the Boston area, playing for the College of the Holy Cross, and his knee-buckling curve led the Commodores with 44 strikeouts.

Loosening up pregame with a couple makeshift dunks. Matt McLaughlin (5) was the heart and soul of the team during his second summer with Falmouth. A leader at third base from first practice until the end.

Hailing from Las Vegas and Oregon State University, shortstop Cadyn Grenier boasts one of the best defensive gloves in the league. He loves to cook in his spare time.

Catcher Michael Cantu was the mainstay behind the league's second best pitching staff. He played with the University of Texas in the College World Series the following summer and is now in the San Diego system.

Head intern Bobby Smiezny takes a break from donning the massive face of Homer, the Falmouth team mascot. Unpaid interns make up the base of what is a completely volunteer-run staff.

Let the Championship Series begin. JJ Matijevic jumps in to the middle of the huddle as the team takes the field against the Bourne Braves. JJ was in his second summer with Falmouth and led the team with a .376 batting average following winning the NCAA National Championship with the University of Arizona.

The official 2016 team photo. That summer, Falmouth lost in three games to the Y-D Red Sox in CCBL Championship series as Yarmouth-Dennis completed their third straight league title. To this day, Falmouth is still trying to #WinItForTrundy.