Four past and present Northeast League players to appear in 2004 Olympics
August 12, 2004 - Canadian American League (Can-Am) News Release
Durham, N.C. -- Current Northeast League players Gavin Fingelson, Mike Marchesano and Craig Lewis and NEL alum Chris Begg have all been selected to play for their respective countries and will appear at the upcoming 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. Fingelson and Lewis will represent Australia, Marchesano will don the Italian jersey and Begg will pitch for Canada.
Fingelson, who is a member of the first-place New Jersey Jackals, played the first half of the season with New Haven County where he hit .299 with four doubles, while driving in 10 and scoring 17 times. This is his second year in the Northeast League, after playing for Catskill in 2000.
Lewis, who plays for Brockton and was the 2003 NEL Rookie of the Year, is currently batting .282 with five home runs and 17 runs batted in. In addition, the 2003 All-Star has three doubles, a triple and scored 17 times for Brockton, which won the 2003 NEL Championship. Lewis, who began his professional career in 1998 as a pitcher, is now in his second year with the Rox.
Marchesano, who is also a member of Brockton, has yet to pitch in a game this season, but last year was a key cog in the Rox's run to the championship. He made 18 starts, going 8-7 with a 2.92 ERA including four complete games and two shutouts. Marchesano is in his seventh season of professional baseball and third with Brockton.
Begg, who pitched for Albany-Colonie during the 2002 season, now toes the rubber for Fresno of the Pacific Coast League, the Triple-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. He is currently 2-5 with a 6.97 earned run average. Earlier in the season at Double-A Norwich, Begg was 7-1 with a 2.48 ERA and struck out 45 while walking 11. In 2002 with Albany-Colonie, he appeared in 21 games, four starts, and went 3-2 with a 2.53 ERA. In 53 1/3 innings, Begg allowed 20 runs, 15 earned, struck out 39 and walked 15.
Below is the schedule for the baseball portion of the 2004 Olympics, which involve NEL players. On Tuesday Aug. 16, Begg may face Marchesano when Canada and Italy square off. The next day, Lewis and Fingelson get their shot at Marchesano and his Italian teammates. Canada and Australia entangle on Sunday, Aug. 22, the last day of the preliminaries.
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