{"id":986,"date":"2009-02-16T10:52:43","date_gmt":"2009-02-16T17:52:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/2009\/02\/16\/urckfitz-ready-for-spring-training\/"},"modified":"2009-02-16T11:08:04","modified_gmt":"2009-02-16T18:08:04","slug":"urckfitz-ready-for-spring-training","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/2009\/02\/16\/urckfitz-ready-for-spring-training\/","title":{"rendered":"Urckfitz Ready For Spring Training"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

\"UrckfitzPat Urckfitz has his bags packed.<\/p>\n

On February 25th<\/sup> the former Webster Yankee will head to Kissimmee, Florida for Spring Training with the Houston Astros.<\/p>\n

When camp opens two days later Urckfitz will begin the second of a seven-year contract.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m excited and trying to keep an open mind,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Urckfitz.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m looking to make the most of everything available to me.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

The Penfield native threw his last inning in the New York Collegiate Baseball League on June 26th<\/sup> as the pinstripes dropped a 4-2 decision to the Elmira Pioneers.<\/p>\n

It was on that night that Pat met with Houston Astro regional scout, Mike Maggert.<\/p>\n

Three days later Urckfitz dropped off his uniform and headed south to Tennessee \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Greeneville, Tennessee that is \u00e2\u20ac\u201c home of the Greeneville Astros, the minor league affiliate of the Houston Astros.<\/p>\n

Greeneville plays in the rookie Appalachian League \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a ten-team league with a 70-game schedule from June to the end of August.<\/p>\n

Urckfitz made 15 appearances for Greenville fanning 23 in 19 innings of work while notching an ERA of 1.40.\u00c2\u00a0 The southpaw finished 1-0 with three saves for the campaign.<\/p>\n

Those numbers earned Urckfitz a spot in the fall instructional league.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153If they don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think much of you, they don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t invite you,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Webster Coach Dave Brust of the invite to fall league. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an investment.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Since the end of fall league Urckfitz has spent his time working out with MCC coach, Mike Kelly and keeping in touch with the Astros.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I check in with Travis Driscoll (pitching coach at Greenville) and Britt Burns (Astros pitching coordinator) to let them know about my workouts.\u00c2\u00a0 I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been spending time over at the MCC facility working with the staff.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not going to meet a better human being than Pat,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said current MCC and former Webster Yankee head coach, Mike Kelly.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153As good of a pitcher as he is, Pat is twice that as a person.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Still Urckfitz knows he has his work cut out for him.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153There are no guarantees.\u00c2\u00a0 We have three single A teams,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Urckfitz referring to Astro farm teams in Lexington Ky., Lancaster Cal., and Troy NY.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I will have to earn a spot,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d continued the lefty.<\/p>\n

While with Webster, Urckfitz fanned 25 in 14.2 innings of work.\u00c2\u00a0 Opposing batters hit a paltry .207 against the lefty.<\/p>\n

Urckfitz was part of the Monroe Community College team that finished third in the nation.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 In the NJCAA tournament Urckfitz tossed 11.3 innings of relief surrendering just one run while striking out 15.<\/p>\n

The seven-year contract with the Astros includes the opportunity for Urckfitz to earn a college degree which he plans on studying sports medicine at SUNY Brockport.<\/p>\n

Maggert was the same scout who signed Churchville native and current New York Mets star, Tim Redding.<\/p>\n

Webster opens the 2009 NYCBL season at Webster Town Park on June 9th when 2007 league champion, Elmira Pioneers, come to town.<\/p>\n

The New York Collegiate Baseball League, founded in 1978, is a summer wood bat development league for professional baseball.\u00c2\u00a0 Major League Baseball funds a small portion of the league\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s annual budget. The league gives college players who have not yet signed a professional contract the opportunity to develop their skills at a higher level of play, gain experience with wood bats, and be evaluated by scouts.\u00c2\u00a0 Current major leaguers Brad Lidge, Tim Hudson, John McDonald, and Dallas Braden all spent time in the NYCBL.<\/p>\n

Pickin’ Splinters <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pat Urckfitz has his bags packed. On February 25th the former Webster Yankee will head to Kissimmee, Florida for Spring Training with the Houston Astros. When camp opens two days later Urckfitz will begin the second of a seven-year contract.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":78,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-986","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-collegiate"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/986","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/78"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=986"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/986\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}