There were four players with a past history at Shepherd that spent the summer performing in the Cal Ripken Collegiate League.

Both outfielder Ron Farley and catcher Christian Hamel played for the Baltimore Dodgers in the 10-team league for athletes with remaining college eligibility.

Farley, who will be a senior at Shepherd for the 2017 season, batted .266 with 41 hits in 154 official at-bats. He had two home runs and 32 RBIs.

Hamel, who was Shepherd’s starting catcher as a freshman in the spring of 2016, batted .241, going 14-for-58. He drove in four runs while sharing the catching duties for the Dodgers this summer season.

Eric Sloper was a redshirt at Shepherd his past spring. It was his first year with the Rams.

This summer, Sloper played for the D.C. Grays in the Ripken League and batted .163, going 14-for-86. He had three RBIs. A middle infielder, the slightly built Sloper would have four more years of eligibility if he returns to the Rams in 2017.

Tyler Thomas played for the D.C. Grays as a teammate of Sloper’s. Thomas only appeared in several early-season games with the Rams in 2016 and had been on the team in 2014 and 2013.

A catcher/first baseman, Thomas batted .357 for the Grays, going 35-for-98 while driving in 13 runs.

Shepherd had only one senior “everyday” player in 2016 and that was shortstop Tre Porter. Pitchers Sam Crater and Jamie Driver as well as infielders Austin Guy and Zane Bard were the team’s other seniors.

The Rams were 39-15 overall and won the Mountain East Conference regular season race as well as the conference tournament championship to earn a berth in the Atlantic Regional where they had a 2-2 record before being eliminated.