Men - UConn Summer Baseball 2022 | Page 6 | The Boneyard

Men UConn Summer Baseball 2022

Dominic Freeberger is from UNC Asheville who is a grad transfer to UConn this fall. As has been noted in the recruiting thread, Freeberger will now be playing in the Cape Cod League for Yarmouth-Dennis. Before moving to the Cape Cod League, Freeberger had been playing college summer ball for the Frederick Keys of the MLB Draft League, a summer college ball league made up of teams that had gotten booted from minor league ball.

For Frederick, Freeberger played in 30 games, had 75 at bats, and had a batting average of .280. Freeberger had 16 walks, which helped raise his on base percentage to .420.
 
dbmill said:
Dominic Freeberger is from UNC Asheville who is a grad transfer to UConn this fall. As has been noted in the recruiting thread, Freeberger will now be playing in the Cape Cod League for Yarmouth-Dennis. Before moving to the Cape Cod League, Freeberger had been playing college summer ball for the Frederick Keys of the MLB Draft League, a summer college ball league made up of teams that had gotten booted from minor league ball.

For Frederick, Freeberger played in 30 games, had 75 at bats, and had a batting average of .280. Freeberger had 16 walks, which helped raise his on base percentage to .420.
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2021 Season (Junior) - In 2021, Freeberger developed into not only one of the top players for the Bulldogs but also in the Big South...Freeberger played in and started all 48 games for Asheville all the while by seeing time at seven different positions defensively...As a hitter, Freeberger hit .333 with six home runs and 30 RBI... He led Asheville in at-bats (201), hits (67), doubles (12), and triples (3)...Freeberger was particularly productive against conference opponents as he led all players with 59 hits in Big South games. Freeberger also appeared in 11 games as a pitcher where he posted a 2-1 record and recorded a pair of saves...He was also named the Big South Relief Pitcher of the Week on April 5 and the Big South Player of the Week on April 12...He is the lone player in the conference to take home a weekly honor as both a position player and a pitcher in 2021...Was the winning pitcher vs. Presbyterian on April 3 and May 7 vs. Longwood...Also notched saves vs. Presbyterian on April 3 and at Winthrop on April 9...Tallied a season-high five hits at Winthrop on April 9...Had 20 multi-hit games in 2021.
 
huskymedic said:
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Korey Morton had been slumping a bit of late, but he definitely seems to have come out of it. In 16 games and 60 at bats for Danbury this summer, Morton is now hitting .300, with 2 homers, 3 doubles, and 6 walks. With one walk in every 10 official at bats, Morton has definitely improved in that area over his spring season at UConn, so that is nice to see. Morton currently has an on base percentage of .377. 60 at bats is hardly a big offensive statistical sample for baseball purposes, but so far Morton is certainly having a much better summer season in Danbury than he did in Norwich last summer, and Danbury in the NECBL is definitely a step up the summer league ladder from the Futures League. Morton also has 3 stolen bases so far this summer.
 
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Justin Willis has been released by the Bourne Braves of the Cape Cod League.
 
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huskymedic said:
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My wife and I were at the game this afternoon. After not knowing what to expect from Ryan Hyde when he first reported to the Norwich Sea Unicorns, he has been a pleasure to watch when he finds his way into the lineup. Really like his approach to hitting, he can both hit the ball hard and also show good placement to the ball when hitting it.

Curren Larson allowed 1 run in his 1 inning of pitching today to close out the game. Good that he is getting mound time again after not seeing the mound for over a month this summer with Norwich. I mentioned before that I suspected that he may have gotten hurt in a game in June, but I never heard anything reported on it.
 
None of the UConn players with the Norwich Sea Unicorns were selected to the Futures League All Star game this year. However, there is a Sea Unicorn who was selected to the All Star game who does has a connection to UConn baseball. Inf/RHP Conner Podeszwa was selected to the All Star game, he is the son of UConn baseball's volunteer assistant coach Chris Podeszwa. Connor attends Tufts University. For Norwich this summer, Connor is hitting .323.
 
Future UConn Husky Caleb Shpur is part of the Futures League All Star game tonight in New Britain.

 
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Caleb Shpur is now on the roster of the Hyannis Harbor Hawks of the Cape Cod League.
 
huskymedic said:
Another portal husky mention:

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I've said this before, but if a Husky player in the transfer portal gets mentioned in a UConn baseball tweet for how he is doing in summer ball, then I'm inclined to think that he is likely to be back at UConn in the fall.

By the way, Mitchell Pascarella is having a solid summer season with Vermont of the NECBL. He has an ERA of 1.65 in 12 games and 16.1 innings, all in relief. 20 strikeouts, and 8 walks and 11 hits allowed. He has not given up a run in the last 10.2 innings he has pitched.
 
dbmill said:
I've said this before, but if a Husky player in the transfer portal gets mentioned in a UConn baseball tweet for how he is doing in summer ball, then I'm inclined to think that he is likely to be back at UConn in the fall.

By the way, Mitchell Pascarella is having a solid summer season with Vermont of the NECBL. He has an ERA of 1.65 in 12 games and 16.1 innings, all in relief. 20 strikeouts, and 8 walks and 11 hits allowed. He has not given up a run in the last 10.2 innings he has pitched.
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In football and basketball, folks put their name in the portal to go somewhere they can get off the bench and play. Not only is that a factor in baseball, but you also have players who are happy where they are but would go somewhere else if they were offered a, or a higher percentage, scholarship. It may be that someone like Pascarella has every intention of coming back, but is open to an offer from a school that will pick up more of his costs. And it may be that baseball coaches understand that and don't have a problem with a player not getting a lot of aid from their school testing the waters.

But that is all speculation.
 
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-> Some other boppers who showed off good power during the home run derby: strong-bodied lefthanded hitter Nathan Blasick (West Virginia) and Ben Nardi (Catholic University) finished just outside the finals with 11 homers. Harrison Feinberg (Southern California), Sam Franco(Purdue), Ben Huber (UConn) and Jackson Ross (Florida Atlantic) each hit nine, with Ross showing good adjustability and driving the ball to the opposite field after seeing a few drives to left get knocked down by the wind. <-

-> Martha’s Vineyard righthander Stephen Quigley (Connecticut) worked a strong 1-2-3 inning for the South, striking out two on 91-92 mph fastballs. His heater plays up with above-average spin in the 2300s-2400s, and the athletic 6-footer features a clean, simple arm action to a high three-quarters slot. His 79-82 slider was mostly below-average in this brief look but flashed fringy and got one swing-through. He also threw a single changeup at 83, and the pitch appeared to show promise. <-

->Quigley’s UConn teammate Brady Afthim worked a 1-2-3 ninth inning (right after I had to leave to catch my ferry back to the Cape). Scouts on hand told me he looked good, running his fastball up to 93 mph and showing very good feel to spin the breaking ball, and he’s touched a tick more velocity this summer. <-
 
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huskymedic said:
Good summer:

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Brady Afthim has had a very nice summer pitching for Sanford of the NECBL. In the regular season for Sanford, Brady Afthim has a 0.70 ERA in 10 games and 25.2 innings pitched to go along with his 47 strikeouts. He has given up 11 walks and 14 hits. Not bad at all. Afthim really showed signs this spring of being a future quality pitcher for UConn, these summer totals just add fuel to that fire. All his appearances this summer have been out of the bullpen, so have to figure at this point that is where he will be next season with UConn. Chris Jones did mention during some game broadcasts that it was possible that Afthim's future with UConn could be either as a starting pitcher on the weekends or at the back of the bullpen, so we'll see what happens.
 
dbmill said:
Brady Afthim has had a very nice summer pitching for Sanford of the NECBL. In the regular season for Sanford, Brady Afthim has a 0.70 ERA in 10 games and 25.2 innings pitched to go along with his 47 strikeouts. He has given up 11 walks and 14 hits. Not bad at all. Afthim really showed signs this spring of being a future quality pitcher for UConn, these summer totals just add fuel to that fire. All his appearances this summer have been out of the bullpen, so have to figure at this point that is where he will be next season with UConn. Chris Jones did mention during some game broadcasts that it was possible that Afthim's future with UConn could be either as a starting pitcher on the weekends or at the back of the bullpen, so we'll see what happens.
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My vote is weekend starter!
 
CtBaseball said:
My vote is weekend starter!
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I have always liked the idea of getting young talented pitchers into the starting rotation as soon as possible. That way you may have them in the starting rotation for at least a couple of years. However, with the number of transfers coming into the program (and others as well), this idea that Coach Penders practiced in the past may be changing. Very possible that transfers could end up filling the weekend starting rotation spots, but we'll see what happens.

As for Brady Afthim, I'm not sure when the last time he was used as a starter, but given Chris Jones mentioning the possibility during game broadcasts last season, it certainly could happen. For an indication that this might happen, we'll have to see if Afthim is used as a starter when fall ball starts up at UConn in September.
 
The four returning arms most likely to start are Cooke, who will start, and then Coe, Sullivan and Afthim. Given that this year we didn't have regular weekday starters -- we just threw whomever we felt like it based on how much they had pitched the prior weekend -- whichever one isn't a weekend starter may again be a reliever/sport starter. The role Cooke had this year.
 
businesslawyer said:
The four returning arms most likely to start are Cooke, who will start, and then Coe, Sullivan and Afthim. Given that this year we didn't have regular weekday starters -- we just threw whomever we felt like it based on how much they had pitched the prior weekend -- whichever one isn't a weekend starter may again be a reliever/sport starter. The role Cooke had this year.
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Why does everyone forget about Braden Quinn?
 
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BaseballDog said:
Why does everyone forget about Braden Quinn?
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Didn’t forget about him. He did not have the year, or seem to have the staff’s confidence, in the way that the other four I named did. He will be a big piece of next year’s staff. But I’d be surprised to see him as a weekend starter
 
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