Men UConn Fall Ball 2023

[huskymedic]

 

[dbmill]

Always look forward to the fall ball schedule, especially the Alumni Game. The Alumni Game in the past has usually been on the last Sunday in September, but not this year. Suspect they moved the Alumni Game to mid October due to women's soccer having Sunday home games the previous three weeks, including the last Sunday in September.

 

[dbmill]

BSB Walk-On Tryouts Scheduled For Sept. 11 - University of Connecticut Athletics

STORRS, Conn. - The UConn baseball team will hold walk-on tryouts for any interested UConn students on Monday, September 11 at 2 p.m. at Elliot Ballpark.

uconnhuskies.com

 

[dbmill]

Monday is the first day of fall semester classes at UConn. So the baseball team is back on campus, and it is possible we could see some interesting tweets and stories pertaining to UConn baseball as fall ball progresses with the semester.

 

[huskymedic]

 

[HCCForever]

Always look forward to the fall ball schedule, especially the Alumni Game. The Alumni Game in the past has usually been on the last Sunday in September, but not this year. Suspect they moved the Alumni Game to mid October due to women's soccer having Sunday home games the previous three weeks, including the last Sunday in September.

Too bad about UConn moving the Alumni Game. But I always enjoyed UConn soccer on a Sunday afternoon in the early Fall. I thought that they had moved Sunday games to Saturday night games due to travel.

 

[huskymedic]

 

[dbmill]

 

[dbmill]

According to the Fall Ball exhibition schedule listed on the UConn athletics website, UConn is now playing UConn Avery Point instead of Niagara CC on September 22.

 

[dbmill]

 

[huskymedic]

 

[MarkyMark]

Fall Ball Trip Report Post #1 - Will break this into 2 posts. Post #1 Overview and Post #2 details
@dbmill - if you went feel free to comment and/or correct me.

Overview
1) Rained a bit in the 1-1:30 timeframe. They got started around 2:50 p.m. I left at 5:00 p.m. with Pitchers still throwing. Don't know if they were going to scrimmage later but it rained hard on the ride home with lightning.
2) Padilla's right hand was bandaged but he participated in all the drills
3) Coe looks like he lost a lot of weight. He looks great.
4) Freeberger was there and participated in the pitching drill a la what Stock did last year. Penders always willing to help guys out.
4) I got my hands on a fall schedule as an extra one was lying around (they handed these out to the scouts). I won't post it but if anyone has any questions on a specific player I can answer. 45-man roster excluding Freeberger.
5) Same exact format as last year - a) Running, b) OF drills to 3B/HP, c) Catcher drill throwing to 2B, d) IF drills SS to 1B, e) Batting practice, and f) Pitching.

 

[MarkyMark]

Fall Ball Trip Report Post #2 I'll preface this with I'm not a scout and I'm probably more results-oriented than the scouts in attendance today. Only my opinion I didn't have a stopwatch or radar gun in my possession.

a) 60-yard dash - 2 chances
- Not surprisingly, based on the eye test, Morton, Daniels, and Kron stood out to me. A freshman that stood out to me was Tyler Minick (from PA). Looked fast. Again eye test only. This is Morton's wheelhouse, he can fly.

b) OF drills from RF to 3B and HP
- 2 IFs for this drill. At 3B they used Minick, Padilla, and Tammaro. At 1B Dalena only. Pretty straightforward drill, Morton and Brini stood out from an arm strength standpoint to me.

c) Catcher drill throwing to 2B

• Padilla, Tammaro, Daniels and Broadhurst all took throws.
• First look at Malcom - Eye test only but of the 4 catchers (Garbo, Hyde, Malcom Oates) I thought Garbo had the best arm (velocity forget accuracy). Garbo arm is noticeably stronger than Malcom. Malcom almost throws 3/4/sidearm like he's compensating for not having a gun. Maybe I'm off but you won't get him confused with Donlan.

d) IF drills SS to 1B

• Dalena and Luke took throws at 1B (Luke also took ground balls at SS)
• Taking ground balls were Luke, Daniels, Padilla, Tammaro, Minick, Davino (Fr from Woodbury), Rispoli (Fr from NY)
• Minick struggled (seemed too amped up), I liked the kid Rispoli he's very polished, moves well, nice arm plays with some swag. Needs to put on bulk but like what I see. Luke I thought actually looked more natural fielding ground balls than at 1B. Everyone else was solid.

e) Batting practice (groups of 4, 2x each)

• Big thing was seeing Malcom - Wears no batting gloves a la Freeberger. Seemed more of a line drive hitter but the sample size is so small hard to get a read. Korey easily cleared the 400 ft sign in CF that was the biggest clout of the session. Dalena is very interesting and he's a guy I think is going to be key in 2024. Has the potential to really be a nice player at Uconn. Good pop off the bat which stood out. High ceiling and he was great defensively today at 1B with scoop after scoop. Also Brini too I like but I think he's caught up in a numbers game. Gave a good accounting of himself during all drills.
• Also would like to see Daniels pull and drive the baseball more to right center/right. Too much stuff to the left side. Needs to maximize his power and be more pull happy.

f) Pitching was next

• Freeberger went first. Prior to throwing a pitch Penders turned around to the group of scouts and said "This is the Big East Player of the Year last year". Again no gun but I thought Dom threw really well better than in the spring. That seems to be the focus to getting a shot at the next level. Best of luck to him.
• Abbadessa impressed me the most. Looked like he was throwing hard and a step up from the spring. Really popping the glove.
• Also saw Carrea, Cookie, Coe, Conte (Fr. from NY) Afthim, Cinnella -transfer from SH a lefty not a hard thrower we'll see on him but not a radar gun guy. Cookie looked healthy.
• S. Quigs, Van Emon were in the OF throwing and I assume they pitched after I left. Van Emon has good size, a big kid hope that works out.

Nice to go out to Elliott and see the team. Looking forward to the fall games (especially LIU).

 

[dbmill]

UConn fall ball baseball roster was available at the Scout Day today. Always seems that the fall ball roster is always right around 45 players, as it was this time around as well.

First, here are the incoming recruits this season for UConn baseball:

Here are the transfers from other schools coming into the program

Caleb Shpur - OF - Grad Transfer from Endicott College
Matt Malcom - C - Grad Transfer from ECSU

Alex Mach - RHP - JUCO Transfer from Avery Point
Cameron Mayer - RHP - Grad Transfer from Tufts University
Gabe Van Emon - LHP - Grad Transfer from Endicott College
George Welch - LHP - Grad Transfer from Southern New Hampshire University
Joe Cinnella - LHP - Grad Transfer from Seton Hall
Kiefan Finnegan - LHP - Grad Transfer from SUNY Oswego

Here are the incoming freshmen:

Brett Davino - Inf
Robert Rispoli - Inf

Tyler Minick - Inf/RHP
Michael Oates - C/RHP
Tommy Turner - RHP/Inf
Sean Finn - RHP/Inf

Kyle Peters - RHP
Ben Schild - RHP
Thomas Galusha - RHP
Giovannni Conte - RHP
Devin Wolff - RHP
Frank Spirito - RHP
Charlie West - LHP

Players returning from last season:

Grad students and Seniors:

Luke Broadhurst - Inf
Paul Tammaro - Inf
Jake Studley - OF
TC Simmons - OF
Korey Morton - OF

Garrett Coe - RHP
Steve Quigley - RHP
Mike Quigley - RHP

Juniors:

Bryan Padilla - Inf
Matt Garbowski - C
Ryan Hyde - C

Ian Cooke - RHP
Brady Afthim - RHP
Jack Sullivan - RHP
Braden Quinn - LHP
Hector Alejandro - RHP

Sophomores:

Ryan Daniels - Inf
Maddix Dalena - 1B
Drew Kron - OF
Niko Brini - OF

Tom Ellisen - RHP
Jake Abbadessa - RHP
Joe Carrea - RHP

Redshirt Freshmen:

Ryan VanDeWater - RHP

 

[dbmill]

UConn fall ball baseball roster was available at the Scout Day today. Always seems that the fall ball roster is always right around 45 players, as it was this time around as well.

First, here are the incoming recruits this season for UConn baseball:

Here are the transfers from other schools coming into the program

Caleb Shpur - OF - Grad Transfer from Endicott College
Matt Malcom - C - Grad Transfer from ECSU

Alex Mach - RHP - JUCO Transfer from Avery Point
Cameron Mayer - RHP - Grad Transfer from Tufts University
Gabe Van Emon - LHP - Grad Transfer from Endicott College
George Welch - LHP - Grad Transfer from Southern New Hampshire University
Joe Cinnella - LHP - Grad Transfer from Seton Hall
Kiefan Finnegan - LHP - Grad Transfer from SUNY Oswego

Here are the incoming freshmen:

Brett Davino - Inf
Robert Rispoli - Inf

Tyler Minick - Inf/RHP
Michael Oates - C/RHP
Tommy Turner - RHP/Inf
Sean Finn - RHP/Inf

Kyle Peters - RHP
Ben Schild - RHP
Thomas Galusha - RHP
Giovannni Conte - RHP
Devin Wolff - RHP
Frank Spirito - RHP
Charlie West - LHP

Players returning from last season:

Grad students and Seniors:

Luke Broadhurst - Inf
Paul Tammaro - Inf
Jake Studley - OF
TC Simmons - OF
Korey Morton - OF

Garrett Coe - RHP
Steve Quigley - RHP
Mike Quigley - RHP

Juniors:

Bryan Padilla - Inf
Matt Garbowski - C
Ryan Hyde - C

Ian Cooke - RHP
Brady Afthim - RHP
Jack Sullivan - RHP
Braden Quinn - LHP
Hector Alejandro - RHP

Sophomores:

Ryan Daniels - Inf
Maddix Dalena - 1B
Drew Kron - OF
Niko Brini - OF

Tom Ellisen - RHP
Jake Abbadessa - RHP
Joe Carrea - RHP

Redshirt Freshmen:

Ryan VanDeWater - RHP

I misspelled the transfer Finnegan's first name. It should be Kieran.

 

[dbmill]

Fall Ball Trip Report Post #1 - Will break this into 2 posts. Post #1 Overview and Post #2 details
@dbmill - if you went feel free to comment and/or correct me.

Overview
1) Rained a bit in the 1-1:30 timeframe. They got started around 2:50 p.m. I left at 5:00 p.m. with Pitchers still throwing. Don't know if they were going to scrimmage later but it rained hard on the ride home with lightning.
2) Padilla's right hand was bandaged but he participated in all the drills
3) Coe looks like he lost a lot of weight. He looks great.
4) Freeberger was there and participated in the pitching drill a la what Stock did last year. Penders always willing to help guys out.
4) I got my hands on a fall schedule as an extra one was lying around (they handed these out to the scouts). I won't post it but if anyone has any questions on a specific player I can answer. 45-man roster excluding Freeberger.
5) Same exact format as last year - a) Running, b) OF drills to 3B/HP, c) Catcher drill throwing to 2B, d) IF drills SS to 1B, e) Batting practice, and f) Pitching.

I only stayed a short while, as I found out from my wife that a friend of mine from high school (she lives in the New Haven area, and my wife and I usually see her only a few times a year) was in the area taking care of some personal stuff and had decided to come over to our house for a quick visit.

 

[dbmill]

UConn baseball has a bunch of returning pitchers from last season, plus they brought in a big bunch of pitchers as part of the recruiting class. The got the quantity of guys on the mound this fall, hopefully during fall ball they will find some quality on the mound as well.

Interesting side note, 4 of the pitchers who are grad transfers are lefty pitchers.

 

[PASTE04038!]

I was standing behind some of the scouts.
Freeberger hit 96. Hope he gets a shot.
Abbadessa and Stephen Quigley hit a few 95"s
Freshman class has some big arms Galusha,Wolff and Turner 92-94. West the lefty was around 90 and looked to have a really good change.
Minick looks like an upper classmen (big strong body) hits the ball hard.
Garbo looked really good receiving,throwing and with the bat. As far as the 4 catchers go he stood out to me.

 

[MarkyMark]

I was standing behind some of the scouts.
Freeberger hit 96. Hope he gets a shot.
Abbadessa and Stephen Quigley hit a few 95"s
Freshman class has some big arms Galusha,Wolff and Turner 92-94. West the lefty was around 90 and looked to have a really good change.
Minick looks like an upper classmen (big strong body) hits the ball hard.
Garbo looked really good receiving,throwing and with the bat. As far as the 4 catchers go he stood out to me.

Thanks for info and provides some context. I left before S Quigs but great to see him throwing like that. Brain freeze on my part should have been where you were. Good to hear on the FR. arms. They need to start building a pitching pipeline that is aided by the portal, not the other way around. Otherwise, you can be scrambling every year.
Agree on Minick he is a pitcher also. During IF drill Coach P gave him the "settle down" gesture he was rushing it. But no big deal.
Agree on 100% on Garbo. His first throw was a laser. Had a good BP I agree.
Read where Rispoli is a preferred walk-on.

 

[MarkyMark]

Scanned the roster earlier today, some random thoughts:

1) Minick is listed at 6' 195; Daniels is also listed at 6'. Minick looks taller than 6' (agree with Paste04038 comments) and Daniels looks smaller than 6'. No way those 2 are the same height.
2) Rispoli 5'10 165 - liked how this kid looks just needs bulk. He needs to be putting on ~15lbs of muscle over the next year that should be his focus. Weight room.
3) Cookie was listed at 255 and last year 215. Typo? Now I know Cookie has a naturally big frame and all that but 255 can't be his optimal weight to pitch at this level. Must be a typo but I think the real # is somewhere between 215 and 255. Would rather see him closer to 215lb range given the injury history
4) Coe was listed at 260 and 256 last year but he looks much better now (trimmer). Perhaps I'm wrong.
5) Dalena listed 6'3" 218. He has sneaky good size he's a big guy. Very high on Dalena for 2024. Playing every day will help too assuming he's the starting 1B.

 

[dbmill]

Scanned the roster earlier today, some random thoughts:

1) Minick is listed at 6' 195; Daniels is also listed at 6'. Minick looks taller than 6' (agree with Paste04038 comments) and Daniels looks smaller than 6'. No way those 2 are the same height.
2) Rispoli 5'10 165 - liked how this kid looks just needs bulk. He needs to be putting on ~15lbs of muscle over the next year that should be his focus. Weight room.
3) Cookie was listed at 255 and last year 215. Typo? Now I know Cookie has a naturally big frame and all that but 255 can't be his optimal weight to pitch at this level. Must be a typo but I think the real # is somewhere between 215 and 255. Would rather see him closer to 215lb range given the injury history
4) Coe was listed at 260 and 256 last year but he looks much better now (trimmer). Perhaps I'm wrong.
5) Dalena listed 6'3" 218. He has sneaky good size he's a big guy. Very high on Dalena for 2024. Playing every day will help too assuming he's the starting 1B.

Tyler Minick joined the Norwich Sea Unicorns late in their summer season, so I saw him play a few games. He looked okay to me. It would not surprise me if at some point in the the future he gets some playing time with UConn baseball.

Based on how Maddix Dalena did in fall ball last year, I have to think he is the leading candidate for being the regular at 1B for UConn this coming season. I've mentioned before that he he only hit .159 with the Mystic Schooners this past summer. Of course, the summer ball season is a rather short thing, still, I am concerned about it. Hopefully Dalena will have a much better fall season. I would think that if Dalena continues to falter in the fall and in the spring regular season, the fall back guy at 1B would be Luke Broadhurst.

 

[dbmill]

Fall Ball Trip Report Post #2 I'll preface this with I'm not a scout and I'm probably more results-oriented than the scouts in attendance today. Only my opinion I didn't have a stopwatch or radar gun in my possession.

a) 60-yard dash - 2 chances
- Not surprisingly, based on the eye test, Morton, Daniels, and Kron stood out to me. A freshman that stood out to me was Tyler Minick (from PA). Looked fast. Again eye test only. This is Morton's wheelhouse, he can fly.

b) OF drills from RF to 3B and HP
- 2 IFs for this drill. At 3B they used Minick, Padilla, and Tammaro. At 1B Dalena only. Pretty straightforward drill, Morton and Brini stood out from an arm strength standpoint to me.

c) Catcher drill throwing to 2B

• Padilla, Tammaro, Daniels and Broadhurst all took throws.
• First look at Malcom - Eye test only but of the 4 catchers (Garbo, Hyde, Malcom Oates) I thought Garbo had the best arm (velocity forget accuracy). Garbo arm is noticeably stronger than Malcom. Malcom almost throws 3/4/sidearm like he's compensating for not having a gun. Maybe I'm off but you won't get him confused with Donlan.

d) IF drills SS to 1B

• Dalena and Luke took throws at 1B (Luke also took ground balls at SS)
• Taking ground balls were Luke, Daniels, Padilla, Tammaro, Minick, Davino (Fr from Woodbury), Rispoli (Fr from NY)
• Minick struggled (seemed too amped up), I liked the kid Rispoli he's very polished, moves well, nice arm plays with some swag. Needs to put on bulk but like what I see. Luke I thought actually looked more natural fielding ground balls than at 1B. Everyone else was solid.

e) Batting practice (groups of 4, 2x each)

• Big thing was seeing Malcom - Wears no batting gloves a la Freeberger. Seemed more of a line drive hitter but the sample size is so small hard to get a read. Korey easily cleared the 400 ft sign in CF that was the biggest clout of the session. Dalena is very interesting and he's a guy I think is going to be key in 2024. Has the potential to really be a nice player at Uconn. Good pop off the bat which stood out. High ceiling and he was great defensively today at 1B with scoop after scoop. Also Brini too I like but I think he's caught up in a numbers game. Gave a good accounting of himself during all drills.
• Also would like to see Daniels pull and drive the baseball more to right center/right. Too much stuff to the left side. Needs to maximize his power and be more pull happy.

f) Pitching was next

• Freeberger went first. Prior to throwing a pitch Penders turned around to the group of scouts and said "This is the Big East Player of the Year last year". Again no gun but I thought Dom threw really well better than in the spring. That seems to be the focus to getting a shot at the next level. Best of luck to him.
• Abbadessa impressed me the most. Looked like he was throwing hard and a step up from the spring. Really popping the glove.
• Also saw Carrea, Cookie, Coe, Conte (Fr. from NY) Afthim, Cinnella -transfer from SH a lefty not a hard thrower we'll see on him but not a radar gun guy. Cookie looked healthy.
• S. Quigs, Van Emon were in the OF throwing and I assume they pitched after I left. Van Emon has good size, a big kid hope that works out.

Nice to go out to Elliott and see the team. Looking forward to the fall games (especially LIU).

I loved watching Drew Kron when he played at Norwich in the summer of 2022. He did fine with Mystic this past summer as well. Terrific defensive outfielder.

I am planning on going to the Avery Point game on September 22, and the Alumni Game in mid October. My wife and I regularly go to the barbecue before the Alumni Game.

 

[huskymedic]

 

[Omahabound]

Fall Ball Trip Report Post #2 I'll preface this with I'm not a scout and I'm probably more results-oriented than the scouts in attendance today. Only my opinion I didn't have a stopwatch or radar gun in my possession.

a) 60-yard dash - 2 chances
- Not surprisingly, based on the eye test, Morton, Daniels, and Kron stood out to me. A freshman that stood out to me was Tyler Minick (from PA). Looked fast. Again eye test only. This is Morton's wheelhouse, he can fly.

b) OF drills from RF to 3B and HP
- 2 IFs for this drill. At 3B they used Minick, Padilla, and Tammaro. At 1B Dalena only. Pretty straightforward drill, Morton and Brini stood out from an arm strength standpoint to me.

c) Catcher drill throwing to 2B

• Padilla, Tammaro, Daniels and Broadhurst all took throws.
• First look at Malcom - Eye test only but of the 4 catchers (Garbo, Hyde, Malcom Oates) I thought Garbo had the best arm (velocity forget accuracy). Garbo arm is noticeably stronger than Malcom. Malcom almost throws 3/4/sidearm like he's compensating for not having a gun. Maybe I'm off but you won't get him confused with Donlan.

d) IF drills SS to 1B

• Dalena and Luke took throws at 1B (Luke also took ground balls at SS)
• Taking ground balls were Luke, Daniels, Padilla, Tammaro, Minick, Davino (Fr from Woodbury), Rispoli (Fr from NY)
• Minick struggled (seemed too amped up), I liked the kid Rispoli he's very polished, moves well, nice arm plays with some swag. Needs to put on bulk but like what I see. Luke I thought actually looked more natural fielding ground balls than at 1B. Everyone else was solid.

e) Batting practice (groups of 4, 2x each)

• Big thing was seeing Malcom - Wears no batting gloves a la Freeberger. Seemed more of a line drive hitter but the sample size is so small hard to get a read. Korey easily cleared the 400 ft sign in CF that was the biggest clout of the session. Dalena is very interesting and he's a guy I think is going to be key in 2024. Has the potential to really be a nice player at Uconn. Good pop off the bat which stood out. High ceiling and he was great defensively today at 1B with scoop after scoop. Also Brini too I like but I think he's caught up in a numbers game. Gave a good accounting of himself during all drills.
• Also would like to see Daniels pull and drive the baseball more to right center/right. Too much stuff to the left side. Needs to maximize his power and be more pull happy.

f) Pitching was next

• Freeberger went first. Prior to throwing a pitch Penders turned around to the group of scouts and said "This is the Big East Player of the Year last year". Again no gun but I thought Dom threw really well better than in the spring. That seems to be the focus to getting a shot at the next level. Best of luck to him.
• Abbadessa impressed me the most. Looked like he was throwing hard and a step up from the spring. Really popping the glove.
• Also saw Carrea, Cookie, Coe, Conte (Fr. from NY) Afthim, Cinnella -transfer from SH a lefty not a hard thrower we'll see on him but not a radar gun guy. Cookie looked healthy.
• S. Quigs, Van Emon were in the OF throwing and I assume they pitched after I left. Van Emon has good size, a big kid hope that works out.

Nice to go out to Elliott and see the team. Looking forward to the fall games (especially LIU).

Good info

 

[Omahabound]

UConn fall ball baseball roster was available at the Scout Day today. Always seems that the fall ball roster is always right around 45 players, as it was this time around as well.

First, here are the incoming recruits this season for UConn baseball:

Here are the transfers from other schools coming into the program

Caleb Shpur - OF - Grad Transfer from Endicott College
Matt Malcom - C - Grad Transfer from ECSU

Alex Mach - RHP - JUCO Transfer from Avery Point
Cameron Mayer - RHP - Grad Transfer from Tufts University
Gabe Van Emon - LHP - Grad Transfer from Endicott College
George Welch - LHP - Grad Transfer from Southern New Hampshire University
Joe Cinnella - LHP - Grad Transfer from Seton Hall
Kiefan Finnegan - LHP - Grad Transfer from SUNY Oswego

Here are the incoming freshmen:

Brett Davino - Inf
Robert Rispoli - Inf

Tyler Minick - Inf/RHP
Michael Oates - C/RHP
Tommy Turner - RHP/Inf
Sean Finn - RHP/Inf

Kyle Peters - RHP
Ben Schild - RHP
Thomas Galusha - RHP
Giovannni Conte - RHP
Devin Wolff - RHP
Frank Spirito - RHP
Charlie West - LHP

Players returning from last season:

Grad students and Seniors:

Luke Broadhurst - Inf
Paul Tammaro - Inf
Jake Studley - OF
TC Simmons - OF
Korey Morton - OF

Garrett Coe - RHP
Steve Quigley - RHP
Mike Quigley - RHP

Juniors:

Bryan Padilla - Inf
Matt Garbowski - C
Ryan Hyde - C

Ian Cooke - RHP
Brady Afthim - RHP
Jack Sullivan - RHP
Braden Quinn - LHP
Hector Alejandro - RHP

Sophomores:

Ryan Daniels - Inf
Maddix Dalena - 1B
Drew Kron - OF
Niko Brini - OF

Tom Ellisen - RHP
Jake Abbadessa - RHP
Joe Carrea - RHP

Redshirt Freshmen:

Ryan VanDeWater -

Nice to see fallball roster. To add to an earlier comment, I too have noticed a whole lot of lefty arms being on the roster, mainly thru transfers…Quinn had a great summer as well.