STANDISH, Maine – Former Saint Joseph's College standout Ben Gravel (Rochester, N.H.) earlier this summer signed a professional baseball contract with the Saranac Lake Surge of the Empire League and is among the team's leading hitters.
As the starting left fielder for the Surge, Gravel is currently hitting .327 (18-55) with 11 runs, 12 RBI and four stolen bases with a .439 on-base percentage. He is second on the team in batting average, hits, and walks (10), third in OBP, and fourth in RBI.
Currently riding a nine-game hitting streak, Gravel sports a .393 (13-33) batting average with seven runs and nine RBI over the last nine contests.
A two-time First Team All-Conference selection, Gravel hit .299 (44-147) with 29 runs, eight doubles, two triples, four home runs, 36 RBI and 11 stolen bases while playing in all 45 of the Monks' games last spring. He finished the year ranked fifth in the GNAC in RBI, sixth in at-bats, seventh in plate appearances (170) and stolen bases, and eighth in walks (21).
Gravel also made 10 appearances on the mound with a 4.50 ERA, a 2-0 record, a pair of saves, and nine strikeouts in 10 innings.
Gravel finished his college career hitting .310 (139-448) with 79 runs, 27 doubles, five triples, nine home runs, 96 RBI and 21 stolen bases in 145 games.
Gravel is one of 10 former Saint Joseph's players to ink a professional baseball contract. He joins Steve Osborne '01 (Yankees - A), Jesse LaCasse '03 (Germany), Charlie Furbush (2005-06) (Mariners), Luke Enman '08 (Nashua Pride), Pat Moran '10 (Pittsfield Colonials), Joe Coyne '15 (North Country/American Assoc.), Nick Whittaker '14 (Ozarks), Nic Lops (Watertown Bucks), and Joey Murphy '19 (Ottawa Champions) on the list of former Monks who have been signed to play at the next level.
The Surge play their home games at Petrova Field in Saranac Lake and sit in third place in the league standings with an 8-12 record through July 4th. The Empire League features four teams playing 40-game regular season schedules, as the Surge, Tupper Lake Riverpigs, and Plattsburgh T-Birds reside in upstate New York and the Japan Islanders – a team comprised entirely of Japanese players – play their home games in Lyon Mountain, New York.
The season is capped by a best-of-five-game championship series after an opening wild card game. Saranac Lake won the 2021 Empire League Championship over Plattsburgh, three games to two.
ABOUT THE EMPIRE LEAGUE:
The Empire League is a Professional Baseball Developmental and Showcase Independent League, established in 2015. The League operates primarily out of the Northeast part of the Country in the states of New Hampshire and New York with Showcase events in the Southeast states like Georgia and Florida as well as Puerto Rico. This Developmental League is for players who are above the amateur level and is considered equivalent to the levels of an affiliated Rookie ball to Class A-level of minor league baseball. The League is an official Feeder League system that prepares and provides players to the Professional MLB partnered leagues such as the Frontier League, American Association, Atlantic League and International Pro Leagues. In addition talented players that have showcased their talents in the Empire League have signed professional contracts with MLB organizations each and every year that the league has operated.
