The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Former Housy standout Yahn most comfortable on a baseball diamond
BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Everything about Willy Yahn screams “baseball player.”
From the uniform socks hiked to his knees to his modest tone in conversation to his ability to do a little bit of anything to help his team win, Yahn seems a perfect fit for the sport. He even plays his home games in a ballpark named after a man practically synonymous with the game: Ripken Stadium.
Yahn, a Sharon native and former UConn standout, is spending his first full summer as a professional with the Aberdeen Ironbirds, the Class A short-season affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles. And he’s more than holding his own, hitting .273 with 19 RBIs and just 19 strikeouts in 150 at-bats entering the weekend.
“I’m having a good time,” Yahn said prior to a game Thursday night at MCU Park. “Aberdeen is a great place to play.”
On Thursday, amidst the quintessential summertime surroundings (beach, boardwalk, amusement park) of MCU Park, Yahn showed that he’s a solid all-around player — who still has things to work on. The third baseman dove to his left to start a nifty, 5-4-3 double play in the first inning and went 1-for-3 at the plate.
He also made a throwing error that helped keep alive a Brooklyn rally in Aberdeen’s ultimate 13-6 loss to the Cyclones.
The former Housatonic Regional star is continuing to build off a strong — if, umm, humid — first season last year with the GCL Orioles of the Gulf Coast League.
“The GCL is a little bit of a grind down there, in Sarasota in the summer,” he noted. “A lot of days, especially around this time in August, you’ve got to selfmotivate. It’s a different atmosphere than the New York Penn League, not a lot of fun.”
“But as long as I’m playing baseball every day,” he added, “it’s always a good time.”
In 56 games last year with the GCL Orioles, Yahn hit .278 with 33 RBIs, 18 runs scored, 12 doubles, nine stolen bases and a .350 on-base percentage. He struck out just 16 times in 209 at-bats and hit .316 with runners in scoring position.
He went to his first spring training camp this year with the possibility of beginning the regular season with Single-A Delmarva. However, Trevor Craport — who played third for Aberdeen last season — won the job at Delmarva, and Yahn stayed back in extended spring training at the O’s complex in Sarasota, Florida.
You think the GCL is a grind? At least in that league, they have scheduled games and keep track of statistics. Aberdeen’s season began in mid-June, and Yahn’s been a stalwart at third base.
Yahn had a terrific career at UConn, racking up 207 hits in three seasons and ranking 20th in program history with 38 doubles. He also broke his hand twice while at UConn and earned the program’s Hirschborn Foundation Award, given to a player that best displays mental toughness and deals with adversity.
Now, Yahn hopes to break any stigma that might be associated with being a 25th-round draft pick in the 2017 MLB Draft.
“As long as you stay consistent throughout your whole pro career and take care of business, it doesn’t really matter where you get drafted,” he noted. “You’ve just got to survive the grind and try to play well every day.”
With a month left in the season (including an Aug. 17-19 series in Norwich and a season-ending series at Hudson Valley, which is about a half-hour from his Sharon home), Yahn wants to keep his average up, keep driving in runners and scoring runs. Ultimately, he’d like to develop a little more pop — Yahn has yet to hit a homer as a pro.
Most importantly, he wants to help the Ironbirds win.
“If I’m worried about winning,” he said, “then the stats take care of themselves.”
Sounds like a true baseball player, indeed.
NEAR NO-NO
Simsbury’s 1 Michael Gibbons hurled 7 ⁄3 innings of one-hit ball on Thursday in High-A St. Lucie’s 10-3 win over Bradenton. Gibbons allowed just one run and one walk while striking out four, and carried a no-hitter into the eighth, when Casey Hughston legged out an infield single.
Gibbons, who played at Avon Old Farms and at Wheaton College, boasts a 4.09 ERA for the Mets’ High-A affiliate. He made a spot start for Double-A Binghamton earlier this summer.