BOONE, N.C. ? Appalachian State University baseball's Zach Quate (Raleigh, N.C./Wakefield) capped a very impressive summer by leading his Anchorage Glacier Pilots of the Alaska Baseball League to a league championship.

Quate, a senior right-handed pitcher, sported a 7-1 record and 1.31 ERA in 15 relief appearances to lead the Glacier Pilots (30-11) to their first-ever ABL title. Quate, who allowed just six earned runs on 29 hits while striking out 34 and walking just nine in 41.1 innings, was named the Pilots' Bernie Kosinski MVP and earned ABL all-star recognition.

Quate and the Pilots are now in Wichita, Kan. competing in the National Baseball Congress World Series. The Glacier Pilots have won the NBC title five times, most recently in 2001.

The Alaska Baseball League is an NCAA-sanctioned, wood-bat summer league. It is considered to be one of the top such leagues in America and counts Major League legends Barry Bonds, Jason Giambi, Mark Grace, Randy Johnson, Mark McGwire, Tom Seaver and Dave Winfield among its alums.

HOBSON LEADS THOMASVILLE TO REGULAR-SEASON CPL TITLE: Appalachian second baseman Wes Hobson (Winston-Salem, N.C./North Forsyth) helped lead the Thomasville Hi-Toms to the 2008 Coastal Plain League regular-season championship.

Hobson hit .303 with eight doubles, a triple, four home runs and 31 RBI in 55 games to help the Hi-Toms post a league-best 37-19 record in the regular-season. ASU outfielder Jason Wallace (Greensboro, N.C./Ragsdale) is also a member of the Hi-Toms and hit .167 with a home run and six RBI in 19 starts.

The CPL, which like the ABL is an NCAA-sanctioned, wood-bat summer league, holds its eight-team championship tournament this weekend at Capital City Stadium in Columbia, S.C.

APPS TO OPEN '09 CAMPAIGN WITH SERIES VERSUS JACKSONVILLE STATE, ELON: Appalachian will open the 2009 campaign with home series against Jacksonville State and Elon.

The Mountaineers begin the season Feb. 20-22 with a three-game non-conference series versus Jax State at McNair Field in Forest City, N.C. The following weekend (Feb. 27-March 1), the Apps host traditional Southern Conference power Elon for an important league series at Beaver Field at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium in Boone.

The entire 2009 schedule and season ticket information will be announced in the fall.