LUMBERTON — Lumberton native Chris Power, a former standout baseball player at Methodist University, is making his mark as a player in the United Shore Professional Baseball League.
Power, who starred with the Monarchs from 2012-15, is a catcher and designated hitter with the Eastside Diamond Hoppers and earned an All-Star selection over the weekend.
The 6-foot-1, 210-pounder is batting at a clip of .281 through 25 games this season. He has 27 hits, including a team-best four home runs, and 15 RBIs to go with 17 walks.
On Saturday, the USPBL hosted its second annual All-Star game with Power starting for the East as a designated hitter. The East and West tied at 2-2 after seven innings, with Corey Kimber earning MVP honors. Power’s statistics for the game were unavailable.
Power, 24, played at Methodist from 2012-15 and was a catcher and designated hitter for the Monarchs. He finished his Methodist career with a .358 average, including a team-best .382 average in his senior campaign. Power was named to the ABCA/Rawlings All-South Region third team in 2015.
Coming off a three-hit performance on Sunday against Westside, Power finished with a pair of RBIs in the Diamond Hoppers’ 7-2 victory.
Eastside sits atop the four-team league with a 14-11 mark this season. The Diamond Hoppers will be back in action on Thursday against Birmingham-Bloomfield.
The USPBL is based out of Michigan and runs from May to September. The league, which plays a 75-game schedule at Jimmy John’s Field in Utica, Michigan — which is about 30 minutes from Detroit — had 10 of its players sign with MLB teams after the 2016 season.
