Fans of Slippery Rock University have a summer baseball team they can all their own - Saxonburg.

The Eagle County squad has six Rock players - either on the college team or recent graduates - and are among the league leaders with an 8-3-2 record.

SRU has apparently become a pipeline for talent for the Saxonburg team.

"Actually, word of mouth from the players has helped get them on our team," said Saxonburg coach Dan Cunningham. "We've had a long string of players for four or five years now."

Mike Sikorski, who finished up his playing days for The Rock back in 2001, has always been one of the league's top hitters.

Outfielder Jason Curry just wrapped up his career at SRU this past spring while infielder/outfielder Chase Rowe will be a senior at the school next year.

Pitchers Scott Rice and Mike DeCola and outfielder Matt Messer just completed their freshman campaigns at Slippery Rock.

"It all started with Mike," said Rowe about Sikorski. "I know he talked to Jason Curry about playing here and I was still in high school, but I was playing.

"We just like playing together. Everyone likes to play here. It's a lot of fun. Everybody has fun," Rowe added.

Pitcher Dave Sansom, another Rock graduate, would have been a member of the team this year, but is sidelined with an arm injury.

"Mike's been with me for nine years," said Cunningham, also referring to Sikorski's American Legion days. "Jason and Chase, they're just outstanding ballplayers," said Cunningham.

"Any guys we can get to play is great, definitely," said Sikorski. "It's a lot of fun playing."

"I've known about the league the past three or four years," said Curry. "Mike told me about it my freshman year and I was looking for a place to play in the summer.

"I've actually played with a lot of the guys since high school because of the Keystone State Games. Dan Cunningham was nice enough to put me on the team. There's no team around Slippery Rock," Curry added.

Prospect did have a team, but disbanded a couple of seasons ago.

Rowe, who has played for Saxonburg for about five years, was a star player at Knoch and along with players like Steve Hall, Curt Schnur, Sandy Sanderson, Brendan Malone and Matt DeSantis, among others, help to form the nucleus of Saxonburg's squad.

"Some of these guys have been with me for four or more years," said Cunningham. "We try and keep a good mix."

"I've seen a lot of guys that live within a one-hour radius that also play in Eagle County," said Sikorski, "not just on our team, but others."

According to Rowe, Cunningham is also a big reason the players enjoy playing for Saxonburg.

"I think, for us, Dan's more like a coach," said Rowe. "He'll talk to the other players. Other teams will have players talk to players.

"He talks about schedule and other things," he added.