UConn Baseball Stars Still Waiting For Call; Draft Resumes At Noon – Hartford Courant

Kyle Wilcox, a hard-throwing righthander from Newtown, was the lone Connecticut player taken in Day 2 of MLB draft on Tuesday as rounds 3-10 were completed. The Mariners used their sixth-round pick, No. 185 overall, to select him.

A player still hoping to get a call today as the draft resumes at noon is UConn’s Carson Cross, the American Athletic Conference pitcher of the year with a 10-2 record and 2.29 ERA. When Tuesday’s activity came to a close and he was still waiting for a call, he tweeted, “I’ve spent my whole life proving people wrong, and this is no different.”

Cross came back from shoulder surgery to have a strong senior season at UConn. Junior second baseman Vinny Siena, who hit .362 with 94 hits in 60 games, was also considered a possible pick in the first 10 rounds, but he, too, is still waiting. Cross, Siena, catcher Max McDowell, first baseman Bobby Melley and outfielder Jack Sundberg are among the Huskies who could be picked Wednesday, as the draft concludes with rounds 11 through 40.

Meanwhile Wilcox went 7-3 with a 3.24 ERA as a junior at Bryant University this spring, hitting 95 mph with his fastball, striking out 50 in 802/3 innings and allowing 61 hits.

“We are very excited for Kyle and the opportunity that he now has,” coach Steve Owens said on Bryant’s website. “He has developed quite a bit since his freshman year, and we look forward to watching him develop into a great professional pitcher.”

Wilcox, 6 feet 3 and 195 pounds, played basketball and baseball at Newtown High. He is an all-around athlete. Owens has said he is probably the fastest runner and would have the best vertical leap of anyone on his team.

The slot value for the 185th pick is $251,100. If Wilcox signs, he could begin at Everett (Wash.) in the Northwest League this month.

Keith MacWhorter, who pitched in 14 games for the Red Sox in 1980, is the last from Bryant to make the major leagues.

Other players who hope to get good news today include pitchers Jacob Stevens of Choate-Wallingford and Ronnie Rossomando of Bunnell-Stratford, a UConn commit. Both are hard-throwing, highly regarded prospects who could be tabbed Wednesday.

Mariano Rivera III, who began his college career at Quinnipiac but blossomed this past season at Iona, was taken by the Nationals in the fourth round. Rivera was picked in the 28th round by the Yankees last season but chose to return to Iona to get his degree and continue developing. He was throwing as high as 97 mph before his season, which included complete game victories at Fairfield and Central, ended with a 5-7 record, 2.65 ERA and 113 strikeouts in 85 innings. His father is the Yankees’ legendary reliever who retired in 2013.

“They drafted a pretty good pitcher,” the elder Rivera, Mariano Sr., told MLB.com. “He is hungry and determined and willing to do whatever it takes to get to the big leagues.”

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