By KEVIN ECKLEBERRY

Daily News

Former Troup Tiger Ryan Bliss, after helping the Auburn Tigers reach the College World Series, is spending his summer playing in the prestigious Cape Cod League.

Bliss, who had a stellar freshman season for Auburn, is playing for the Brewster Whitecaps, who are based in Massachusetts.

While the Whitecaps have played 15 games, Bliss didn’t join the team until last week since Auburn’s season extended until June 20 when it lost its second and final game in the College World Series.

Bliss has played in four games, and he has four hits, including a home run in Saturday’s win over Yarmouth-Dennis.

Bliss was hitless in his first game on Wednesday against Wareham, and he had a hit and a stolen base in a 2-1 victory over Bourne on Friday.

Bliss then had two hits with a solo home run in the 7-4 victory over Yarmouth-Dennis, and he also scored three runs and had two stolen bases.

Bliss extended his hitting streak to three with a triple in Sunday’s 5-2 loss to Yarmouth-Dennis.

Brewster’s season continues through July 31, and there will be games nearly every day.

Bliss is the lead-off hitter for the Whitecaps, and he’s playing second base.

Bliss is coming off a terrific freshman season where he started every game for Auburn, making him the only player on the team to accomplish that.

Bliss hit .281 with a .367 on-base percentage, and he had 11 doubles, three home runs, 37 RBIs and 50 runs scored.

In eight NCAA tournament games, including the two games in the World Series, Bliss had 13 hits with nine runs scored and five RBIs.

Bliss hit a home run in an NCAA regional win over Georgia Tech.

JAKE HOWARD: Former LaGrange Granger Jake Howard has played in 10 games for the Savannah Bananas this summer.

Howard, who recently completed his red-shirt sophomore season at the University of North Georgia, has four hits in 20 at-bats for the Bananas, who are a member of the Coastal Plain League.

Howard has one RBI, and that came in a wild 14-13 loss to the Gastonia Grizzlies on June 19.

This is Howard’s third consecutive summer playing for the Bananas.