Former Chestnut Hill Baseball Standout Alec Craig Signs on with Minnesota Twins Organization
Courtesy of Chestnut Hill College Athletics
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. (July 8, 2019) – Weekend plans changed quickly for Alec Craig ’18 as the Westside Woolly Mammoths’ second baseman was forced to miss the USPBL All-Star Game after officially signing a contract with the Minnesota Twins of Major League Baseball (MLB). On Friday, July 5, just a day prior to the USPBL All-Star Game, USPBL Director of Baseball Operations Justin Orenduff, USPBL Owner Andy Appleby, and Woolly Mammoth Manager Bryan Kloppe made the formal announcement in front of a packed Jimmy John’s Field. Craig will join the Elizabethton Twins (Elizabethton, Tennessee) of Minor League Baseball’s (MiLB) Appalachian League (Rookie Advanced).
Craig is the fourth USPBL player to sign with a MLB organization this season and the 31st since the league was established in 2016. In just eight games as a Woolly Mammoth, Craig batted .500 (13-for-26) with a .667 on-base percentage (OBP; 13 walks) and a .654 slugging percentage (SLG; 4 doubles), helping to account for 29 runs with 13 scored and 16 runs-batted-in (RBI). Craig was the fourth Griffin to sign a professional baseball contract – joining Brian Henry, Richard Cavazza ’14, and Dominic Raia ’15. He is the first graduate of Chestnut Hill College to play for an MLB organization.
A four-time All-Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) performer (Second Team; 2015, 2016, and 2017, First Team; 2018), Craig earned all-region recognition from the Division II (D2) Conference Commissioners Association (CCA) (2nd Team), the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA)/Rawlings (2nd Team), and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) (3rd Team, Honorable Mention) in his senior season (2018) at Chestnut Hill College. That year, he received his second straight Chestnut Hill College Baseball Most Valuable Player (MVP) title and the Chestnut Hill College Male Athletic Director's Award after orchestrating the greatest offensive season in program history with single-season records in hits (60), runs (53), triples (11), total bases (104), slugging (.698), on-base percentage (.520), and stolen bases (47-of-48, .979). His totals for triples and stolen bases served as National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II highs. He also tied Dan Etherton '11 for the program's single-season batting average mark (.403) and matched his own single-season walk record (38), which he set as a junior (2017). Craig finished his collegiate career at Chestnut Hill College second all-time in hits (181) and first all-time in games played (172), games started (169), runs scored (155), triples (19), walks (129), stolen bases (98), and assists (454).
ABOUT THE CACC
The Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference is an NCAA Division II Conference composed of 14 institutions in Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. The member institutions are Bloomfield College, Caldwell University, Chestnut Hill College, Concordia (N.Y.) College, Dominican (N.Y.) College, Felician University, Georgian Court University, Goldey-Beacom College, Holy Family University, Jefferson (Philadelphia University + Thomas Jefferson University), Nyack College, Post University of Waterbury, University of the Sciences, and Wilmington University.