Tag: Connor Prielipp

Alabama pitcher Connor Prielipp selected in second round of 2022 MLB Draft

Alabama left-handed pitcher Connor Prielipp was chosen No. 48 overall in the 2022 MLB Draft by the Minnesota Twins.

It wasn’t as soon as many baseball experts had anticipated, but Alabama pitcher Connor Prielipp was chosen with the No. 48 overall pick to the Minnesota Twins on Sunday night of the 2022 MLB draft.

It wasn’t the first time that the Wisconsin native had been drafted. After his senior year of high school, the Boston Red Sox chose Prielipp in the 37th round of the 2019 draft. However, instead of pursuing professional opportunities, he chose to attend Alabama. He was ranked as the No. 201 overall recruit in the country, according to Perfect Game.

During his freshman season in Tuscaloosa, he had 21 innings pitched while allowing just five hits and striking out 35 batters. He obtained a 3-0 record with a 0.00 ERA. In a COVID-shortened season, Prielipp pitched merely perfect for Brad Bohannon’s squad. He received First-Team All-American honors from Collegiate Baseball News.

The success didn’t carry over into his sophomore season, however. Prielipp made three appearances on the mound and pitched just seven innings before undergoing Tommy John surgery. He ended the season with a 1-1 record with a 3.86 ERA. After battling an elbow injury and undergoing Tommy John surgery, he decided to not pitch during the 2022 season.

Recently, he chose to throw a bullpen session at the SEC Tournament for MLB scouts. Soon after, he would partake in the MLB Draft Combine that took place in San Diego, California. As a result of his great arm and pitch arsenal, Prielipp was ranked as the No. 25 overall player in this year’s draft class by MLB.com.

On Sunday, he would fall into the second round to the Twins. He became the second pitcher to come from Alabama that has been drafted in the first three rounds over the past two drafts. It will be interesting to see how Prielipp develops in the minor leagues and how he fares when he receives the call to the big leagues.

Roll Tide Wire will continue to cover Alabama baseball and former players making their way to the Major Leagues.

Alabama Morning Drive: Tide lands surprising commitment from Georgia legacy Justice Haynes

Some good news to share on Monday morning!

Good Monday morning, Tide fans! Welcome back to another edition of Alabama Morning Drive. I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend and is ready to get the work week started.

A lot happened over the weekend but perhaps the most surprising news of all was the commitment from four-star running back [autotag]Justice Haynes[/autotag].

Haynes made his commitment on Sunday afternoon, shocking the recruiting world. Haynes’s father, Verron Haynes, was a stellar back for the Georiga Bulldogs in the late 90s and early 2000s which is why the top 50 prospect’s decision is so surprising.

[autotag]Nick Saban[/autotag] and Alabama may not be done with the running back position in the 2023 class either. The Tide is still considered a major player for five-star [autotag]Richard Young[/autotag].

Alabama now sits with the No. 3 ranked class according to On3’s Consensus Team Rankings.

Let’s take a look at a few other stories that Alabama fans should be following this morning.

Four-star OT Elijah Pritchett commits to Alabama over Georgia, Florida State, and USC

Alabama has moved up to the No. 3 class in the 2022 cycle with Pritchett’s commitment.

Of the top 10 offensive tackles in the 2022 class, only four are uncommitted heading into the week. Zach Rice, Josh Conerly Jr., Elijah Pritchett, and Kam Dewberry have all extended their recruitments past the summer.

Pritchett decided to shut it down on Tuesday afternoon, committing to Alabama. The four-star offensive tackle chose the Crimson Tide over Florida State, Georgia, and USC.

Despite Kirby Smart’s staff getting the final official visit this past weekend, Charles Kelly and Doug Marrone sealed the deal.

Alabama has moved up to the No. 3 class in the 2022 cycle per the 247Sports composite, despite having the fewest commitments out of the top five. Penn State and Notre Dame keep the top two spots with both have 20+ pledges so far.

Pritchett is the third offensive lineman in the class and the third prospect from the state of Georgia. Four-star Tyler Booker headlines the OL class from IMG Academy.

In an interview with On3 Recruits, Pritchett says Alabama and Georiga were the real two final schools. Getting to Tuscaloosa for a weekend sealed the deal in favor of the Crimson Tide.

“That visit when they played Mercer was the icing on the cake,” Prtichett said. “Seeing the team compete, even against a smaller school, showed me a lot.

“It was my first game at Alabama too, so seeing the fans was amazing. The fans knew it wasn’t a big game, but they still had the mind-set that they wanted to beat the crap out of Mercer.”

Alabama’s most recent commit is the No. 94 overall player on the 247Sports composite. Within the state of Georgia, Pritchett is the No. 8 prospect and ranks as the No. 9 offensive tackle in the country.

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Alabama Baseball: Game Ball Winners from McNeese State Series

Alabama got off to a hot start last weekend by sweeping the visiting McNeese State to open the 2021 season. Here are the game-ball winners.

The Alabama Crimson Tide got off to a hot start last weekend by sweeping the visiting McNeese State Cowboys to open the 2021 season.

When the first pitch was thrown by Connor Prielipp last Friday, it closed out a 345-day drought where baseball was not played in Tuscaloosa. The Tide capitalized on a 16-1 shortened regular season by taking all three games from McNeese State during opening weekend.

Game Ball Winners-

Connor Prielipp (5.0 innings, 4 hits, 8 strikeouts)

Prielipp and the Crimson Tide defense complemented each other during the season-opener on Friday. The All-America candidate struck out eight batters over five innings, leaving the game with a 5-0 lead.

Zane Denton (7 hits, 5 RBI, 2 HR)

Denton was a bright spot for the Alabama offense in the series, providing a key bat in clutch moments.

In a game that took a while for any offense to get going, it was Denton’s stick that came through for the series-clinching win. Down 3-0 heading to the 7th inning, Denton delivered a single that scored William Hamiter to put Alabama on the board. Tied 3-3 in the bottom of the 9th inning, Denton delivered again with a solo walk-off home run to give Alabama the 4-3 win.

Denton finished the day with three hits and two RBI. Denton also nailed a home run and collected two more RBI in the Sunday clincher.

Owen Diodati (3 hits, 6 RBI, 2 HR)

Diodati did not collect many hits over the weekend… but the ones he did made noise. Diodati hit two home runs in Saturday and Sunday’s games respectively and collected four RBI in Sunday’s 9-5 win.

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Alabama’s Opening Day starter ranked as top 5 college pitcher in the country

Alabama baseball sophomore pitcher Connor Prielipp will be the Crimson Tide’s Opening Day starter. He has been ranked as a top 5 pitcher.

Alabama baseball is set to begin a new season, and after a hot start to the 2020 season that was cut short due to COVID, the team is back and ready to pick up where they left off.

The 2021 Crimson Tide baseball season will begin on Friday, Feb. 19 with a three-game series at home against McNeese State, where sophomore pitcher Connor Prielipp will get the Opening Day start on the mound.

“Connor got off to a great start last year as a freshman and has really separated himself from the rest of the pack,” said head coach Brad Bohannon. “I don’t have any doubt that he’ll give us a great start on Friday and give us a chance to win.”

Prielipp, a 6-foot-3 lefty from Wisconin, was named National Freshman Player of the Year by Collegiate Baseball News after a 2020 freshman season that featured 21 innings, strikeout 35, walk six, only give up 5 hits and four wins.

Baseball America ranks Alabama as the No. 25 team in the nation heading into the season, and they have also announced their top-five pitchers prior to the season beginning – Prielipp comes in at No. 4.

An interesting note: All five of the pitchers are from SEC programs, which should make for a very competitive conference schedule.

 

 

Connor Prielipp ranked No. 9 out of 150 freshmen in college baseball

Connor Prielipp was ranked number nine in the top 150 freshmen baseball players in college baseball. 

Not only did Alabama baseball freshman pitcher Connor Prielipp strike out seven batters in four innings and earn his first collegiate start, he was also ranked number nine in the top 150 freshmen baseball players in college baseball according to D1 Baseball.

Prielipp, a freshman from Wisconsin, was ranked as the top-rated left-handed pitcher and No. 2 overall player in the state of Wisconsin by Perfect Game USA, as well as the No. 1 left-hander and top-ranked overall player in Wisconsin by Prep Baseball Report just to name a few of his many awards in high school. He was also the 2019 Gatorade State High School Player of the Year.

There’s no doubt that this kid will be fun to watch at Alabama.

Roll Tide!