Aug. 5, 2009

Now in his third professional season, Jerod Edmondson is one of the best power hitters in the independent Can-Am League.

Edmondson, a Johnson City graduate, is a starting outfielder for the American Defenders of New Hampshire and ranks among the league's leaders in most offensive categories.

Edmondson ranks seventh in the six-team league in hitting with a .318 batting average. He has 12 home runs, which is tied for the fourth-most in the league this season. He also ranks third in the league in on-base percentage (.406) and second in slugging percentage (.550). He's second on the team in home runs and RBIs (35).

Edmondson played three years of collegiate baseball at St. Anselm College in Manchester, N.H., and spent his final collegiate season at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell. He was a four-time All-Conference selection in the Northeast-10. He has spent the past two seasons as the hitting instructor at UMass-Lowell.