CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Twenty-eight Appalachian League alumni are set to take the field in the 2025 MLB Desert Invitational. Former Appy League stars at this year's event include 2024 Pitcher of the Year Brock Toney (Grand Canyon), 2024 All-Star Game MVP Brodie Johnston (Vanderbilt) and 2023 All-Star Game MVP Mike Mancini (Vanderbilt).
For more details on the 2025 Desert Invitational, click here. The complete list of Appy League alumni at the Desert Invitational is listed below.
Austin Peay (9)
Landon Slemp - Kingsport 2021
John Bay - Pulaski 2021
Deaton Oak - Princeton 2022, Bluefield ‘24
Keaton Cottam - Elizabethton 2023
Austen Jaslove - Elizabethton 2023, Pulaski ‘24
Shawn Scott - Greeneville 2023, Danville ‘24
Kaleb Applebey - Bluefield 2024
Cole Johnson - Danville 2024
Kyler Proctor - Johnson City 2024
Grand Canyon (4)
Troy Sanders - Pulaski 2023
Kade Huff - Elizabethton 2023-24
Jace Behnke - Elizabethton 2024
Brock Toney - Greeneville 2024
Nebraska (1)
Cayden Brumbaugh - Danville 2022
New Mexico (2)
Matt Cornelius - Kingsport 2022
Andrew Neil - Johnson City 2023
San Diego State (3)
Gage Adams - Bristol 2022
Chris Canada - Princeton 2022
Marko Sipila - Bluefield 2023
Seton Hall (2)
Daniel Frontera - Burlington 2022
Jack Wentworth - Pulaski 2023
UC Irvine (4)
Finnegan Wall - Greeneville 2022
David Utagawa - Johnson City 2022
Ryder Brooks - Danville 2023
Max Martin - Pulaski 2024
Vanderbilt (3)
Cody Bowker - Elizabethton 2022
Mike Mancini - Kingsport 2023
Brodie Johnston - Greeneville 2024
About the Appalachian League
Founded in 1911, the Appalachian League is one of the longest-running baseball leagues in baseball history and recently completed its fourth season as a collegiate summer baseball league in partnership with MLB and USA Baseball. The Appy League is the only collegiate summer league under MLB and USA Baseball’s Prospect Development Pipeline (“PDP”) and is an integral part of the identification and development process for the USA Baseball Collegiate National Teams and other future National teams. The league plays a 48-game schedule and is comprised of 10 teams from West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina and Tennessee.
For more information about the Appalachian League, visit appyleague.com or follow @appyleague & @appyleaguedata on Twitter/X, and @appyleague on Instagram.
