BOSTON, Mass.--A trio of Baseball starting pitchers were named to the Futures League All-Star Team and the May/June League Team of the Month, the Futures league announced last week.
Rising juniors Dillon Ryan (Sandwich, Mass.), Alex Amalfi (Ashland, Mass.) and Tim Cianciolo (New Milford, Conn.) earned three of the six pitching slots on the first Futures League Team of the Month of the season. The three pitchers will all be in New Britain, Connecticut on Tuesday, May 13 to compete in the 2021 Futures League All-Star Game. Ryan and Amalfi will both be pitching for the East All-Star Team, while Cianciolo will feature for the West Team.
Ryan was also recognized as the Pitcher of the Month after putting together an impressive first six appearances for the Brockton Rox. The junior righty is 3-0 with a 1.07 earned run average and 46 strikeouts in 25.1 innings pitched. He has allowed just 12 hits, 13 walks and three earned runs thus far. Ryan sits second in the league in ERA and third in strikeouts. He has given up two or fewer runs in all six of his appearances and has shut out opposing offenses four times. In his five starts, Ryan has struck out at least seven batters in every start, including posting nine or more strikeouts three times. During his last outing on July 6, Ryan went three scoreless innings and recorded nine strikeouts against the New Britain Bees.
Amalfi, who is in his second season with the Worcester Bravehearts, picked up his first career All-Star honors. The junior righty is 2-2 with a 3.62 ERA in six starts this summer. He ranks in the top 10 in the league in strikeouts (37 – 7th) and innings pitched (27.1 - t-10th) and has walked just 14 batters. Amalfi has allowed two or fewer runs in four of his six starts, including two scoreless outings. He has struck out at least four batters in every start and registered six or more strikeouts on three occasions. On June 11, Amalfi posted a season-high eight strikeouts and allowed just three hits in five scoreless innings against the Norwich Sea Unicorns.
Cianciolo also earned his first career Futures League All-Star honors. The junior righty is in his first season with the Pittsfield Suns. In six appearances, Cianciolo is 3-2 with a 4.93 ERA and 32 strikeouts. He's tied with Amalfi for 10th in the league with 27.1 innings pitched and has walked 20 batters in his five starts. Cianciolo has struck out six or more batters in four appearances and allowed one or fewer runs three times. He put together his best outing of the season on June 9, when he scattered two hits and two walks, while striking out six, over five scoreless innings against Worcester.
At the mid-way point of the season, the three Beacons' teams sit first, second and third in the Futures League standings. Ryan's Rox lead the league (21-13), while Cianciolo's Suns sit one game back (21-15) and Amalfi's Bravehearts are third (20-16). The top four teams in the league qualify for the playoffs.
