Cowles homers in first MLB Spring Training at bat

By PAUL GOTHAM

TAMPA — Ben Cowles didn’t waste any time.

The former Newark Red standout connected on the first pitch he saw in the eighth inning of Tuesday’s MLB Spring Training contest and drove in two runs with a two-out home run as the New York Yankees thumped Philadelphia, 14-2 in exhibition action.

The mammoth blast off Philadelphia left-hander Brian Marconi cleared the scoreboard in left center field at George M. Steinbrenner Field measured 437 feet with an exit velocity of 109 MPH.

Cowles, who was assigned to the Yankees last Thursday, March 24th, entered Tuesday’s contest as a pinch runner for DJ LeMahieu earlier in the inning and later scored the first in an eight-run Yankee eighth.

Yankees 10th rounder from last year Benjamin Cowles goes deep for a two-run shot! pic.twitter.com/QmyyS4vNcL

— Talkin’ Yanks (@TalkinYanks) March 29, 2022

Cowles capped his outing with a putout in the top of the ninth when he went to his back-hand to grab a ground ball behind pitcher’s mound and fired a strike to the bag to get Marcus Lee Sang at first base.

A 10th round pick (303rd overall) of the Yankees in the 2021 MLB Draft, Cowles appeared in 35 games during the 2021 season splitting time with Florida Complex League (FCL) Yankees and Tampa Tarpons of the Florida State League. The right-handed batter drove in 23 runs on four home runs and seven doubles over 32 games with the Tarpons.

The two-time Finger Lakes East Player of the Year, Cowles hit .512 with an on-base percentage of .650 for Mike McGavisk’s Newark Reds in 2018. He earned Section V Class B Player of the Year as well as Class B First-Team All-State honors and was also named to Section V’s All-Decade Team.

A Third Team All-American selection at the University of Maryland in 2021, Cowles started all 48 games at shortstop for the Terrapins. He led the Big Ten with 18 home runs and ranked second in the conference with 51 RBI. He posted a team-high OPS of 1.041.

Cowles entered last Thursday’s contest as a late-inning defensive replacement but did not make a plate appearance.

Last season, he joined the late Frank Gravino and Joe Latin as Newark natives to play professional baseball. Gravino signed with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1940 and played 12 seasons in the minors including 116 games with the Rochester Red Wings in 1948. Latin pitched one season (1959) with the Yankees Florida State League affiliate, St. Petersburg.

Cowles became the third Section V standout to play at Maryland before embarking on a pro career along with Rich Smith (Irondequoit) and Dave Brust (Cardinal Mooney). Irondequoit’s Cito Culver originally committed to Maryland before the Yankees selected the shortstop in the first round of the 2010 draft.

Cowles’s dinger came one day after Adam Scott (Canandaigua) earned his first MLB Spring Training start for the Cleveland Guardians.

Tanner Cooper (Canandaigua) and Greg Cullen (McQuaid Jesuit) are currently active in minor-league baseball along with Steven Klimek (Greece Arcadia).

Ernie Clement (Brighton) and Danny Mendick (Pittsford Mendon) play in the majors for Cleveland and the Chicago White Sox respectively.

Cowles played in the Upstate League during the summer of 2017.

To view a complete list of former Section V players chosen in the MLB Draft click HERE.