The UConn baseball team saw their 2025 season come to an end after losing to Creighton in the Big East championship game and missing out on an NCAA tournament berth. Despite the early elimination, the end of the Huskies’ season did not mark the end of the season for many of their players.
26 Huskies spent time over the summer playing for various summer collegiate baseball teams across the country. Beyond those 26 players, additional incoming freshmen and transfer recruits were also featured on various summer ball rosters. The majority of those 26 athletes played for teams in the New England Collegiate Baseball League, with 14 players appearing on rosters across nine different clubs.
Left-handed pitchers Sam Hutchinson and JT Caruso, as well as first baseman Maddix Dalena and utility man Anthony Belisario, were all teammates for the Mystic Schooners. Dalena put on a great performance in his second summer with the Schooners. Over 19 games, the Pennsylvanian product got on base at a .432 clip with 17 RBIs and seven extra base hits. That performance was good for a .898 OPS.
Elsewhere, right-handed pitchers Drew Smith and Greg Shaw III each made the All-NECBL Honorable Mention team. Smith, who was returning to the mound for the first time since undergoing Tommy John surgery in high school, pitched 27.1 innings of relief work for the Sanford Mainers and put up a 1.65 ERA. Shaw gave the Valley Blue Sox six strong starts to the tune of a 2.03 ERA. Shaw was also a league all-star for the second time, having previously made the team for the Blue Sox in 2024.
Other standout performers from NECBL play include left-hander Oliver Pudvar with the Vermont Mountaineers and catcher Gabriel Tirado for the Danbury Westerners. Pudvar started five games for the Mountaineers, pitching 15 scoreless innings. Tirado posted an exceptional OPS at 1.088 after hitting six home runs in only 18 games. Tirado, along with Dalena, were two names that Baseball America National Writer Peter Flaherty noted as drawing attention from evaluators this summer.
“Those are two big, physical kids with a ton of power from the left side,” said Flaherty. “They have a chance to be really productive for Coach Penders.”
He added that the UConn coaching staff continues to do a great job constructing their roster, especially with the added wrinkles of the transfer portal and NIL deals.
“Maddix is perhaps more of a household name, but I think both [Dalena and Tirado] have a chance to be key contributors next spring,” Flaherty said.
Upcoming redshirt sophomore Kyle Peters had an exciting summer in terms of team success, as he was a member of the NECBL champion Keene Swamp Bats. After mostly working out of the bullpen for UConn last spring, the right-handed pitcher started 10 games for the SwampBats and started two playoff games. In the quarterfinals, he gave Keene five innings of one-run ball (zero earned runs). Despite giving up seven earned runs over six innings in the championship series against the Martha’s Vineyard Sharks, the upcoming red shirt sophomore took the win in the championship-clinching game after the SwampBats came all the way back from down seven to win 16-7. Coincidentally, the losing pitcher in that game was former UConn pitcher Cole Taylor, who is transferring to Elon for this upcoming season.
Outside of the NECBL, UConn players appeared in eight additional leagues within the rest of the summer collegiate ball circuit. Notable performances in these leagues included Ian Cooke, Frank Spirito IV, Jude Abbadessa and Garrett Garbinski.
Cooke, the 2024 Big East Pitcher of the Year, pitched for the Frederick Keys of the MLB Draft League and struck out 23 batters in just 14 innings against three walks. Having exhausted his eligibility at UConn, the righty was likely trying to attract potential interest from Major League Baseball teams.
Spirito, pitching for the Norwich Sea Unicorns of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League, saw lots of action this summer after missing all of 2024 due to Tommy John and pitching only 4.2 innings for the Huskies in 2025. He pitched 35.2 innings over 11 games and eight starts, finishing the regular season with a 2.27 ERA with solid strikeout numbers. He turned it up in the playoffs, spinning 9.1 scoreless innings on Norwich’s way to winning a third straight FCBL title.
One of the only pitchers topping Spirito’s performance in the FCBL was Garbinski. Pitching for the New Britian Bees, Garbinski was electric across his 13 appearances. After missing the 2025 UConn season with an injury, Garbinski pitched 38.1 innings to a sparkling 0.47 ERA and did not give up a run in any of his first 21 innings. Overall, the righty gave the Bees 15 scoreless outings and walked only five batters all summer on his way to being named a league all-star. The Connecticut native should be a contender for the Pitcher of the Year award and the FCBL all-league team, both of which will be announced in September.
Abbadessa played for the Trenton Thunder in the MLB Draft League, an organization that may be familiar to some as the former Double-A affiliate of the New York Yankees. Abbadessa struck out 30 batters in 24.1 innings and put up solid numbers after a rough 2025 with the Huskies. Abbadessa will be transferring to Tulane for his junior season.
Other Huskies from the 2025 roster not mentioned who appeared on summer ball rosters this summer include Hector Alejandro, Giovanni Conte, Aidan Dougherty, Sean Finn, Thomas Galusha, Carter Groen, Evan Hamberger, Jack LaRose, Grant MacArthur, Owen Norrell, Charlie West and Devin Wolff.