Read: Former UMass pitcher Dennis Torres continues to write improbable success story in Double-A
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Today in the Daily Hampshire Gazette, Matt Vautour has a feature on former UMass baseball right-hander Dennis Torres who is currently pitching for Double-A Bowie as a member of the Baltimore Orioles' organization.
UMass baseball alum Dennis Torres made his first Double-A start Wednesday night for the Bowie Baysox on the road vs. the New Britain Rock Cats. Torres threw four scoreless, allowing one hit with four walks and no strikeouts as part of a combined 1-0 shutout victory for the Baysox.
Since earning the call up to Double-A, Torres is 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA over five appearances, 10.1 innings. Opposing batters are hitting just .114 against him.
Dennis Torres' MiLB stats & profile
UMass Sports Network feature on Torres
This morning Greg Swatek of the The Frederick News-Post out of Frederick, Maryland, has a fantastic profile of former UMass baseball right-hander Dennis Torres who is now pitching for the Frederick Keys, the Class A Advanced affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles. Torres is currently 2-0 with four saves and a 3.33 earned-run average over 12 appearances.
The Boston Globe is the latest media outlet to cover Dennis' Torres amazing story from walking on to the UMass baseball squad to becoming a Baltimore Orioles' draft pick earlier this month:
Dennis Torres remembers the doleful look he saw in the eyes of his father, Denesi, four years ago after he had played his final season for the Lawrence Legion Post 15 team.
There had been no high school career: He was cut four times from the baseball team at Central Catholic, and no college scholarships were in the offing.
"I talked to my pops, and he was so upset he couldn't watch me play anymore,'' Torres recalled.
Now, the elder Torres will be able to watch his son pitch as a professional after the 6-foot-2, 200-pound righthander was selected by the Baltimore Orioles in the 28th round (852d pick overall) of Major League Baseball's First-Year Player Draft last Wednesday.
"When my name came out, it was awesome,'' said the 22-year-old Torres, who went from walk-on to number one starter in his third season at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He signed a contract with Baltimore Monday morning, forgoing his final season of eligibility, and will report to the Gulf Coast League for two weeks before moving on to the Aberdeen IronBirds in the short-season New York-Penn League.
Read more of - Lawrence's Torres: From UMass walk-on to pro ball with Orioles
An excellent feature on Dennis Torres by the Springfield Republican's Harry Plumer. Torres signed with the Orioles this morning and will report to the Gulf City Orioles.
You wouldn't even know Dennis Torres played baseball if it weren't for the picture leaning against the wall in his bedroom.
Trophies and medals from years past are packed away in boxes somewhere. There are no framed cutouts of newspaper articles.
His career, at least at his mother's house, is nothing more than a ghost.
It won't be for long.
Phones have been ringing, text messages have been dinging and Torres' Twitter account has been blowing up since the UMass pitcher was drafted in the 28th round of the MLB Draft by the Baltimore Orioles on June 6.
People are coming out of the woodwork to congratulate him. They tell them they always knew he had it in him, even though he was cut from his high school baseball team all four years. They tell him they knew he could do it, even though he never gave baseball a thought during his first year at UMass.
Read more of UMass pitcher Dennis Torres overcomes odds to be drafted by Baltimore Orioles
Congratulations to Dennis Torres, who was selected in the 28th round of the MLB Draft yesterday. Matt Vautour had this nice piece in today's Daily Hampshire Gazette:
"Dennis Torres' high school team didn't want him.
The Lawrence native was cut by Central Catholic all four years of high school. No colleges wanted him either. Of course they didn't. Who recruits a kid that didn't play varsity in high school? Torres walked on at the University of Massachusetts as a sophomore, hoping to play third base. He wasn't even a pitcher until the Minuteman coaching staff saw him zip a throw across the infield.
But the Baltimore Orioles wanted him.
The Orioles selected the UMass junior right-hander four picks into the 28th round Wednesday of Major League Baseball's first-year draft. Torres was at Minuteman teammate Leif Sorenson's house in Haverhill watching the draft online and just before 3 p.m. after Boston College senior pitcher Matt Brazis was selected by the Seattle Mariners, the voice from the computer said the magic words: 'Dennis Torres, right-handed pitcher, University of Massachusetts.'"
Read more of UMass walk-on Dennis Torres drafted by Baltimore Orioles
In today's Springfield Republican Dick Baker has a nice piece on UMass starting pitchers Dennis Torres and Joe Popielarczyk.
"Joe Popielarczyk, a Northampton native whose 3-2 victory Sunday at Saint Joseph's lifted the Minutemen's Atlantic 10 record to a much-better-than-expected 6-3. The win snapped the Hawks' seven-game winning streak."
Read the more of Walk-ons throwing strikes for greatly improved UMass baseball.
The Daily Collegian has coverage today of UMass' sweep of La Salle over the weekend along with a notebook from Scott Cournoyer. The Minutemen are in action tonight in Lowell, Mass., facing Northeastern at 6 p.m. in the first round of the Beanpot Tournament, which will be broadcast on WMUA 91.1 FM.
Rich Graef walks-off twice as Minutemen slide into first place
Dennis Torres, Anthony Serino heating things up for Minutemen
The Daily Collegian's annual Baseball/Softball Preview issue hit newsstands on Monday and here are the baseball articles compiled by writers Chris Corso and Scott Cournoyer.
Jeff Reardon set major league baseball's all-time saves record. Mike Flanagan won the Cy Young. Former football recruit Ron Villone pitched in the bigs for 15 years. Matt Torra was a first-round pick in 2005.
So junior Leif Sorenson of Bradford should be proud to set the school record for career saves. Even if it is just 12.
"It was definitely a goal," said Sorenson, who has done it in just two years, as he transferred from Vermont, after the Catamounts dropped baseball. "It's not a lot so I'm trying to smash it."
Continue reading more of Michael Muldoon's column, Our College Stars, which also mentions UMass sophomore Dennis Torres.
On May 17, we celebrate a trio of birthdays: senior hockey player Brian Keane sophomore swimmer Alexander Merkulov and sophomore baseball pitcher Dennis Torres.
The Eagle-Tribune has a story mentioning a pair of UMass pitchers from Eastern Mass. Haverhill's Leif Sorenson, who left UVM when it disbanded the program, ended up at UMass. The Catamounts' demise was good news for the Minutemen. The sophomore righthander went 2-1 and led the staff in ERA (3.94), appearances (19) and saves (5). He fanned 14 and walked eight in 29.2 innings. Freshman pitcher Dennis Torres of Lawrence made the team at UMass. He never played varsity ball at Central.