UConn Baseball in the Summer: Season Recap

Twenty-one returning and new Huskies played organized baseball this summer in six leagues. Rising sophomore Tim Cate also played on the USA Collegiate National Team, just like recently drafted Anthony Kay, who did so last summer. Four Huskies were on the team which won the NECBL title and Wills Montgomerie’s summer ball team won the Cape League championship as well.

Cate pitched for the USA Collegiate National Team in the summer after his freshman year. The U.S. played in Taiwan, Japan and Cuba, with Cate pitching five innings over two appearances without allowing a hit, striking out six and walking four. His ERA was 0.00, BAA was .000 and WHIP was 0.80. Cate also pitched in four games for the Mystic Schooners of the New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL) before joining Team USA. He pitched 7.0 innings, striking out eight and walking one.

CJ Dandeneau, who will be a redshirt sophomore next year, pitched this summer for the Plymouth Pilgrims of the NECBL. He pitched in 13 games for the Pilgrims, making three starts over 35 2/3 innings with an ERA of 2.27 and an opposing batting average of .197 against him with a WHIP of 1.04. He struck out 39 and walked 12.

Doug Domnarski, who will be a senior next year, spent this summer with the Mystic Schooners of the NECBL. He pitched 45 2/3 innings over 10 appearances in the regular season, seven of which were starts. Opponents hit .234 against him and he had an ERA of 1.25 and a WHIP of 2.56. In the playoffs, he made a start and struck out six with one walk in seven innings. He allowed three runs on six hits.

Aaron Hill also spent his summer with the Schooners and will also be a senior next year. The infielder slashed .302/.444/.406 in 40 games in the regular season. Hill doubled 11 times and hit one home run. He scored 30 runs and had 25 RBI. In the playoffs, he slashed .259/.296/.355, scoring five runs with two RBI in seven games. He was a South Division All-Star.

Mason Feole will be a freshman pitcher for UConn next year and pitched for the Worcester Bravehearts of the Futures League this summer. He made five appearances, all of which were starts, with an ERA of 1.67 and a WHIP of 1.22 in 27 innings. He struck out 30 and walked 12, only allowing opposing batters to hit .221 against him. Feole pitched 2 2/3 innings in one relief appearance in the playoffs, allowing one run on four hits and striking out four with one walk.

Alex Hintze redshirted in 2016 and pitched for the Madison Mallards of the Northwoods League this summer. He made 17 appearances out of the bullpen, throwing 26 2/3 innings. He struck out 17 and walked 12 with a WHIP of 1.43. His ERA was 4.05 and opponents hit .257 against him.

Jack Lambrecht missed his freshman year due to injury, but played 14 games for the Brockton Rox of the Futures League. He slashed .300/.438/.580 for Brockton, hitting three home runs and two triples to go along with 14 RBI and 14 runs scored.

Rising senior catcher Alex LeFevre split his summer between the Chatham Anglers of the Cape Cod League and the Mystic Schooners of the NECBL. He played in seven games for Chatham, slashing .091/.333/.091 with one hit in 11 at-bats. He finished the summer in Mystic, slashing .250/.346/.400 in seven games in the regular season. He was 1-for-4 in the playoffs with a home run in two games.

Wills Montgomerie, who will be a junior next year, made seven appearances, four of which were starts, for the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox of the Cape Cod League. He threw 26 1/3 innings for the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox this summer with an ERA of 1.71 and a WHIP of 1.18. He recorded 28 strikeouts against 10 walks and held opposing batters to a .214 BAA.

Conor Moriarty will be joining the Huskies as a freshman infielder next year after his summer with the Pittsfield Suns of the Futures League. He slashed .220/.316/.220 in 15 games for Pittsfield, scoring eight runs with four RBI.

Sam Nepiarsky will be a junior pitcher next season. He spent the summer pitching for the New Bedford Bay Sox of the NECBL, making eight starts over 49 1/3 innings. His ERA was 2.19 and had a BAA of .201 with a WHIP of 0.99. He struck out 38 and walked 13. He was a South Division All-Star. In the playoffs, he allowed eight runs on nine hits in 2 1/3 innings.

Randy Polonia split the summer after his freshman year between the Danbury Westerners of the NECBL and the Bristol Blues of the Futures League. He pitched one game for Danbury, allowing two runs and two hits in three innings to go along with two walks and two strikeouts. He made four appearances for Bristol, throwing five innings. He struck out five and walked 10, allowing nine runs, eight of which were earned.

PJ Poulin, a rising sophomore, also pitched for New Bedford this summer. He made six appearances, including three starts. He threw 18 2/3 innings and struck out 14 while walking another 14. He had an ERA of 4.82 and had a BAA of .247. His WHIP was 1.71.

Dan Rajkowski just finished his redshirt freshman year and played for the Brockton Rox of the Futures League this summer. He pitched in nine games, throwing 17 1/3 innings. He struck out 28 and walked four. He had an ERA of 2.08 and allowed opposing batters to hit .242 against him. His WHIP was 1.15. Rajkowski was an East Division All-Star.

Joe Rivera, who will be a junior next season, also spent the summer of 2016 playing for Mystic. He pitched in 10 games, making eight starts. In 35 2/3 innings he struck out 35 and walked 16 with an ERA of 6.05. His WHIP was 6.05 and opponents hit .273 against him. He allowed one run on one hit in 2/3 innings in the playoffs.

Ronnie Rossomando pitched in Bourne in the Cape Cod League after his freshman year. In 13 relief appearances, he pitched 22 1/3 innings with an ERA of 2.42. He struck out 27 and walked nine. Opponents hit .211 against him and he had a WHIP of 1.12. He allowed four runs on three hits in two innings in the playoffs.

John Russell, who will be a junior for UConn in 2017, made 18 appearances for the Edenton Steamers of the Coastal Plain League. He threw 34 1/3 innings, holding hitters to a .202 BAA. He struck out 51 and walked 15 with an ERA of 2.88 and a WHIP of 1.19.

John Toppa played eight games in the beginning of the summer for the Nashua Silver Knights of the Futures League. He slashed .258/.378/.387 He stole four bases, had three RBI and scored four runs. He hit a home run and had a double.

Jacob Wallace will be a freshman with the Huskies next season and spent his summer preparing for college ball by pitching for the Bristol Blues of the Futures League. He made eight appearances with one start, throwing 17 innings. He struck out 17, walked 13 and registered one save. Opponents hit .306 against him, he had a WHIP of 2.06 and his ERA was 7.41.

Rising junior infielder Willy Yahn spent his summer in Cape Cod playing for the Bourne Braves. He slashed .290/.337/.358 in 44 games in the regular season. He had 13 RBI and scored 22 runs to go along with eight doubles and two triples. He went 5-for-25 in the playoffs with an RBI and three runs. He was named to the West All-Star team.

Andrew Zapata, a rising senior, pitched in the Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League for the Staten Island Tide. In 34 1/3 innings Zapata made seven appearances, including six starts. Zapata had 31 strikeouts against 17 walks with a WHIP of 1.72. His ERA was 5.77 and opponents hit .309 against him. He was named to the Kaiser Division All-Star team, as well.

Keith Krueger, Tyler Gnesda, Trevor Holmes, Dillon Malandro, Ryan Radue, Jack Riley and Troy Stefanski were members of the 2016 Huskies with eligibility remaining who, to our knowledge, did not play organized summer baseball.