By: Ryan Murphy

With the number of summer leagues in 2020 drastically reduced due to COVID-19, the Florida League is expected to boast one its most talented groups in league history. No team is more emblematic of that talent level than the Orlando Scorpions.

The 2020 Orlando Scorpions roster, as of press time, featured 15 Division I players, many of whom hold starring positions at nationally-ranked programs. The group also includes a number of players from top Division II and junior college programs.

The Scorpions will mostly call DeLand home during the 2020 season, as 18 of the team's 27 games will be played either at Melching Field or the Sperling Sports Complex (15 of the 18 will be at Melching, the home field of the Stetson University Hatters). The Orlando franchise will also play five games at Pat Thomas Stadium in Leesburg, and four at Sanford Memorial Stadium.

Leading the Scorpions from the dugout will be veteran coach Bob Rikeman. 2020 will be Rikeman's second season in the League, with his first coming in 2017 with what was then the Altamonte Springs Scorpions. Rikeman's 2017 team finished the regular season in second place, and boasted the league batting champ (Trace Thornal), Cy Young Winner (David Litchfield) and Top Pro Prospect (Garrett Zech). Additionally, Rikeman owns the prestigious Scorpions travel ball program.

Three players on the Opening Day roster for the Scorpions are connected with the team that ended the shortened 2020 season as the number one team in the nation - the Florida Gators. Starting outfielder Judson Fabian and weekend starting pitcher Jack Leftwich lead the contingent from Gainesville, while incoming freshman Colby Halter will join the group in central Florida. Leftwich and Fabian both played in the Cape Cod League last summer, as did a number of their Scorpion teammates.

UF's rivals from Tallahassee, the Florida State Seminoles, will also send three players to the Orlando Scorpions. Two-thirds of FSU's starting outfield - Robby Martin and Reese Albert - will wear Scorpion purple this summer, as will incoming freshman Jackson Nezuh. Martin and Albert both played instrumental roles in Florida State's trip to the 2019 College World Series. Other programs represented on the Scorpion roster include UCF, Jacksonville, Indiana, Pittsburgh, and USF.

Another four players join the Scorpions as veterans of the Florida League. Three of these players- David Litchfield (UCF), Brooks Rikeman (Jacksonville), and Riley Wash (Pittsburgh) are former Scorpions. The other, former Winter Park Diamond Dawg Jacob Teter (Florida Southern), was the league's home run champion during the 2018 season.

The Scorpions will begin the 2020 season with a road game, as the Scorps will take on the Winter Garden Squeeze at 11:00 a.m. on Monday at Sanford Memorial Stadium. The home opener in DeLand will come the next morning, when the Sanford Mavericks travel to Melching Field for an 11:00 a.m. first pitch.