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The college baseball season has long since ended for UConn and while exciting changes are afoot for the program at home, former Huskies are hard at work in minor league ballparks across the country, working their way up to get a chance in the big leagues.
Former UConn ace Anthony Kay hasn’t had the easiest transition into Triple-A after his promotion in early June. In two start he’s allowed nine earned runs on ten hits, allowing batters to hit .435 against him in the two losses — although he wasn’t helped by poor outfield defense in the most recent one.
Kay isn’t the only UConn alumnus to recently earn a promotion in the minor leagues; fan favorite third baseman Willie Yahn recently got the call up from the High-A Frederick Keys to the Double-A Bowie Baysox.
Yahn was hitting .296/.314/.426 with the Keys and made a big impact in his first game in Double-A: An RBI double and a run scored in his first Double-A at-bat proved to be the difference as the Baysox defeated the Hartford Yard Goats, an hour and change away from his hometown of Sharon, Connecticut.
Former UConn starter Wills Montgomerie has experienced some success in the Dodgers’ farm system with the High-A Rancho Cucamonga Earthquakes. Montgomerie is 8-1 with a 4.44 ERA, good enough for selection into the California League All Star Game, where he pitched a scoreless inning.
2018 draftee P.J. Poulin has continued to succeed in the lower levels of the Rockies farm system and got promoted from Low-A Boise to High-A Asheville in the offseason. The crafty left-hander has pitched in 29 games with a 2.62 ERA, working as a middle reliever.
UConn’s second-round pick in the 2018 draft, Tim Cate, is having a similarly impressive season with the Hagerstown Suns of the South Atlantic League, recently promoted from the Nationals’ Single-A Potomac affiliate. Cate has started 13 game in 2019 with an impressive 2.82 ERA and 1.052 WHIP.
A former member of the legendary 2011 super regional squad, outfielder John Andreoli remains bouncing between Triple-A and the big leagues. The righty started the season on the Orioles’ Triple-A affiliate, Rochester, then to Seattle’s Tacoma Rainiers, hitting .214/.365/.381 there in 2019.
Elsewhere in the minor leagues, UConn’s 2019 draftees have received their assignments for the summer. Utility man Michael Woodworth has been assigned to the AZL Athletics, pitcher CJ Dandeneau to the GCL Pirates, Anthony Prato to the Elizabethton Twins of the Appalachian League and Jake Wallace to the Northwest League Boise Hawks.