Great Bend, Kansas - With hard-work and dedication, Penn State Greater Allegheny baseball alumni Clay Groff has been signed to be apart of the inaugural season of the Great Bend Boom as catcher after playing behind the dish for the Lions for four seasons.

2016 will be the first season in the books for the Great Bend Boom baseball team, a member of the ten-squad Pecos League of Professional Baseball Clubs. The Pecos League is an independent professional baseball league which operates in cities in desert mountain regions throughout New Mexico, Kansas, West Texas and Southern Colorado. Pecos teams play in cities that do not have Major or Minor League Baseball teams and are not affiliated with either. The season ahead lasts 72 days, where the fighting young men will hope to be contenders in 68.

The right-handed catcher attended a three-week spring tryout with the Pecos Spring League in Houston, Texas. With his work, Clay hit .304 (7-of-23) in ten games, marking five doubles. Groff is one of two catchers the team picked up through the off-season. 

A Taylor Allderdice pick-up, Groff rode out his final season in the blue-and-white with an overall batting average of .385, the highest in his four-year tenure. Competing in 41 games in his senior season, Clay put up 130 at bats, managing 54 runs on 50 hits including an astounding 15 doubles, six triples and one homer with 29 additional runs batted in. 

For a four-year career with Greater Allegheny, Clay wrapped up a total of 79 runs on 95 hits for an overall ERA of .339 with a slugging percentage of .504. 

Spring Training for Groff begins May 10th in Garden City, Kansas, where opening day will not be too far away. On May 19th, the Great Bend Boom is scheduled to host the Salina Stockade.

With his contract being signed April 1st, the Greater Allegheny Athletic Department will be rooting on Clay and the Great Bend Boom! Way to go, Clay!

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