Conine earns top prospect accolade for Cape Cod summer play

Weston’s Griffin Conine, 20, capped off a solid summer campaign for the Cotuit Kettleers in the Cape Cod Baseball League in Massachusetts with a huge accolade.

The junior at Duke University received the league’s Robert A. McNeese Outstanding Pro Prospect Award. He is the son of Jeff Conine, a two-time Major League Baseball all-star who played 17 seasons with six teams, and won two World Series titles with the Florida Marlins in 1997 and 2003.

“It was a huge honor; I didn’t know they gave out that award,” said Conine, who played outfield for the Kettleers, one of 10 teams in that summer collegiate baseball league. “To hear that it came straight from the scouts and was something they voted on going into my draft year was big for sure.”

The 2015 graduate of Pine Crest School in Fort Lauderdale hit nine home runs and added 30 RBI while batting .339. He was named to the league's 2017 All-Star Team and was named the West Division Most Valuable Player.

Last season, Conine, an All-ACC Second Team selection, led the Blue Devils in slugging percentage (.546), on-base percentage (.425), RBI (56), home runs (13), total bases (119) and walks (41).

Selected by the Miami Marlins in the 31st round (No. 926 overall) of the 2015 MLB Draft, Conine said his game has improved since his freshman season at Duke.

“It’s definitely been a helluva ride,” Conine said. “I was definitely overmatched my freshman year and didn’t play well early on. I definitely had a good summer after my freshman year and had another good summer after my sophomore year. It’s been a lot of fun and everything is starting to click.”

Conine said he has been making little adjustments to his game and hopes to cut down on his strikeouts heading Duke.

With another MLB Draft set to take place next June, Conine admitted it would be nice to once again be drafted by the Marlins.

“To be selected on the first day would be the best case scenario,” Conine said. “To be selected by the Marlins on the first day would be a childhood dream come true for sure.” into this season

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