10 Players With Hartford/Tolland County Ties Drafted By MLB

By the end of the second day of this week's Major League Baseball amateur draft, a total of 1,217 players had been selected over 40 rounds. Two dozen players have Connecticut ties, with 10 of them in Hartford and Tolland counties. Five players grew up or attended school in the area, and another five were plucked from the 2019 roster of the University of Connecticut.

The first selection from the homegrown locals was right-handed pitcher Malachi Edmond of Coventry, late of the University of New Mexico, who was taken by the Baltimore Orioles in the 18th round as the 528th overall pick.

Two products of Stafford were chosen: shortstop Jimmy Titus of Bryant University, who attended East Catholic High School and was two-time Gatorade state player of the year, went to the Los Angeles Dodgers (22, 672nd), and left-handed pitcher Josh Simpson of Columbia University was taken by the Milwaukee Brewers (32, 951st).

Right-handed pitcher Matt Gill of Simsbury, who attended Avon Old Farms School and Boston College, was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds (27, 804th), while catcher Christian Fagnant of East Granby High School was chosen by the Baltimore Orioles (39, 1158th).

Fagnant is not likely to sign with Baltimore, according to East Granby head coach Bob Bromage.

"He is going to Amherst to play college ball," Bromage said. "He started this year with a fractured leg, but by early May, he really started coming along with his hitting and catching. He hasn't fully healed, but he forced himself to run. His leg probably won't be better until September or October. There is no harder worker on hitting than Christian."

UConn right-hander Jacob Wallace was taken in the third round (100th overall) by the Colorado Rockies. Also drafted were four of his Husky teammates: shortstop Anthony Prato (7, 209th, Minnesota Twins), left-handed pitcher Mason Feole (11, 323rd, San Diego Padres), second baseman Michael Woodworth (29, 884th, Oakland Athletics) and right-hander C.J. Dandeneau (37, 1114th, Pittsburgh Pirates).

Here are the other draftees connected to the state, listed by name, position, schools, hometown, round selected, overall pick, and Major League team:

• Stephen Paolini, OF, St. Joseph High School, Fairfield, 5, 157th, Atlanta Braves
• Simon Whiteman, Yale University/Fairfield Prep, Trumbull, SS, 9, 266th, San Francisco Giants
• Zach Hart, RHP, Franklin Pierce University/Sheehan High School, Wallingford, 10, 300th, Cleveland Indians
• Austin Pope, RHP, Fairfield University, Bronxville NY, 15, 452nd, Arizona Diamondbacks
• Ken Turner, RHP, Ledyard High School, Ledyard, 20, 595th, Texas Rangers
• Griffin Dey, 1B, Yale University, Pound Ridge NY, 23, 682nd, Detroit Tigers
• Tyler Poulin, RHP, Quinnipiac University, Randolph NJ, 29, 872nd, Arizona Diamondbacks
• Scott Politz, RHP, Yale University, Austin TX, 29, 875th, St. Louis Cardinals
• Justin Lasko, RHP, UMass/Bunnell High School, Stratford, 30, 898th, New York Mets
• Chad Knight, C, Staples High School, Westport, 31, 945th, New York Yankees
• Kumar Nambiar, LHP, Yale University, Larchmont NY, 34, 1034th, Oakland Athletics
• Montana Semmel, RHP, Westhill High School, Stamford, 36, 1095th, New York Yankees
• Bobby Zmarzlak, OF, Westhill High School, Stamford, 40, 1188th, Baltimore Orioles