UConn’s Feole, Yale’s Dey taken
UConn starting pitching Mason Feole was the first Connecticut player selected on the final day of the Major League Baseball Amateur Draft Wednesday.
The lefthander was picked by the San Diego Padres in the 11th round the third day of the draft got underway. Feole, from Rhode Island, was the 323rd overall pick.
He joined teammates Jacob Wallace and Anthony Prato, who were selected on Tuesday. Wallace was picked by the Colorado Rockies, Prato went to the Minnesota Twins.
Other Huskies were selected Wednesday — Michael Woodworth was picked by the Oakland A’s in the 29th round and pitcher C.J. Dandeneau by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 37th round.
Feole was 3-3 3.50 ERA as a junior this season. He shined as a sophomore, striking out 120 in 100 innings with a 9-2 record and a 2.50 ERA.
Staples-Westport pitcher Chad Knight, the Gatorade Connecticut Player of the Year in 2018, was selected by the Yankees in the 31st round. Knight is committed to Duke.
Also Wednesday, Fairfield pitcher Austin Pope was selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 15th round. Pope, from Bronxville, N.Y., was 4-3, 3.16 ERA with 79 strikeouts in 77 innings. Pope, the second team All-MAAC selection, is the 18th Fairfield player drafted.
“It’s an amazing feeling,” Pope said in a statement. “I
spent it with the people who are closest to me, basically whole family. They were the ones who spent all the time with me and helped me along. My dad was the one driving with me to every single game and he put in so much time. My mom was always there for me, she would come to all of my games and if I ever had trouble I would call her. I can’t even explain how much my aunt meant to me, I would call her every single day and she would always be there.”
Ledyard High’s 6-foot-5 pitcher/first basebman Ken Turner was picked by the Texas Rangers in the 20th round. Turner is committed to the University of Hartford.
Bryant shortstop Jimmy Titus, of Stafford and East Catholic-Manchester, was picked by the Dodgers in the 22nd round. Titus hit .343 with 12 home runs, 63 RBI, and a .423 on-base percentage in 59 games as a redshirt sophomore this season.
Titus was the two-time Gatorade Connecticut Player of the Year at East Catholic.
Yale saw its second player picked when first baseman Griffin Dey was tabbed by the Detroit Tigers in the 23rd round. Shortstop Simon Whiteman went to the San Francisco Giants in the ninth round Tuesday.
Dey, a right-handed hitter from Pound Ridge, N.Y., hit .362 with 11 home runs and 44 RBI in 41 games this season. He had a .482 onbase percentage and a .651 slugging percentage, as he was named honrable mention All-Ivy League.
Yale’s next pick came in the 29th round, as Scott Politz went to the St. Louis Cardinals. The righthander was 6-3, 3.46 ERA this season. In the 34th round, the A’s selected Yale lefthander Kumar Nambiar.
Quinnipiac’s first pick was pitcher Tyler Poulin, who was selected by the Diamondbacks in the 29th round. Poulin, of Randolph, N.J., was 7-2, 3.83 with 82 strikeouts in 87 innings for the Bobcats, who advanced to the NCAA Tournament this spring.
Westhill High had two players selected late in the draft: pitcher Montana Semmel in the 36th round by the Yankees and outfielder Bobby Zmarzlak by the Baltimore Orioles in the 40th round.
The Orioles were active in the state late in their draft. Baltimore took New Mexico pitcher Malachi Edmond, a Coventry High graduate, in the 18th round. The Orioles also took East Granby High catcher Christian Fagnant in the 39th round. Fagnant, committed to Amherst College, is the son of Red Sox scout Ray Fagnant.
Fagnant and Edmond were two of three NCCC products picked, along with Columbia pitcher and Stafford High graduate Josh Simpson (Miami Marlins, 32nd round).
Simbury native and Avon Old Farms graduate Matt Gill, a Boston College pitcher, went to the Reds in the 27th round.
The Phillies selected Salisbury pitcher Dylan Casteneda in the 30th round. Casteneda, of Flushing, N.Y., is committed to Michigan.