Mike Odenwaelder drafted by Baltimore Orioles

Mike Odenwaelder drafted by Baltimore Orioles
Mike Odenwaelder was playing the past month with the Litchfield Cowboys of the Tri-State Baseball League. He is now property of the Baltimore Orioles after being selected in the 16th round of the MLB draft on Wednesday June 10th. Last season (2014) Ryan Plourde was signed away from the Brass City Brew and two years ago (2013) Torrington native Conor Beirfeldt, who was playing with the Terryville Black Sox at the time, was also drafted by the Baltimore Orioles. Zach Risedorf of the Winsted Whalers was also selected last season in the MLB draft – coming off his senior year in high school. A steady influx of Tri-State league players making their marks in MLB.
Throw in the handful of players who are now playing in the Tri-State league that either have been drafted by a major league team or who have played in the minors/professional baseball : (Jesse Darcy – Bethlehem, Gary and Paul Novakowski – Brass City, Chris Blazek and Joey Serafin-Litchfield, Lance Stevens-Naugatuck, Micheal Fabiaschi-Tri-Town, Brett Anderson-Terryville, Manny Cruz-Wolcott, Justin Morhardt-Winsted, Adam Piechowski-Winsted) plus the up and coming stars playing in a college level league this summer (Pat O’Neill-Bethlehem, Willie Yahn-Lakeville) combined with the abundance of current and former college and high school stars and the Tri-State League has never seen this amount of overall talent in its 83 year history.
But Wednesday belonged to Mike Odenwaelder. A young man who we have been following since his days of dominating on the diamond, hardwood or soccer field is going to get a chance to live out his dream of being a professional baseball player. As a junior at Amherst College, Odenwaelder just came off another stellar campaign that saw him earn his second consecutive NESCAS Player of the Year award thanks to a .380 batting average that included seven home runs and 38 RBI’s. He posted a .590 slugging percentage and 63 hits. On his way to an MVP campaign a year ago in Torrington for the FCBL Titans, Odenwaelder tore up the FCBL with a .370 batting average that included seven home runs and 49 RBI’s in 48 games. He banged out 67 hits and finished with a .586 slugging mark as well. It was Kirk Fredrickson, the former owner of the Torrington Twisters NECBL team who made the call to Odenwaelder with the good news.
Congratulations Mike!! We look forward to seeing you in the BIGS sooner than later!!