CINCINNATI, Ohio — Former Wheaton College (Mass.) baseball player Stephen Quigley (Halifax, Mass.) has signed a free agent contract with the Cincinnati Reds Major League Baseball organization, it was announced by the ballclub.
Quigley becomes the 10th player in school history to sign a contract to play professional baseball and is the second Lyon to reside within a Major League Baseball organization in 2024, joining Nick Raposo, who is currently a catcher in the Toronto Blue Jays organization. Prior to being claimed by the Blue Jays, Raposo was added to the Cardinals' major league roster earlier this season on June 22. He is currently playing for Toronto's AAA affiliate in Buffalo, N.Y. This is not the first time that Wheaton has boasted multiple players under contract for a Major League organization at the same time. Chris Denorfia and Jamie Baker were both active at the same time when Denorfia was a member of the Reds and Baker was a signee of the San Diego Padres in 2006.
Quigley is a 2022 graduate of Wheaton and enjoyed a four-year career from 2019-22. The right-handed pitcher had both the 2020 and 2021 seasons impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and was granted two additional years of eligibility by the NCAA following his senior campaign with the Lyons. Quigley continued his stellar career as a member of the pitching staff for Division I University of Connecticut for two seasons as a graduate student.
The Silver Lake High School product made the transition from shortstop to the mound for Wheaton during his junior year and was named to the D3baseball.com All-Region Second Team as a utility player following the season. Quigley opened eyes for sure in 2021, but it was his senior campaign that garnered widespread attention throughout the region and the nation. Quigley was named the Region 1 Pitcher of the Year by both the American Baseball Coaches Association and D3baseball.com in addition to previously earning Pitcher of the Year honors from the New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference. He capped his breakout season by being selected a Third Team All-American by the ABCA and earning a Fourth Team All-America designation by D3baseball.com. Quigley struck out a league-high 73 batters, while posting a 2.22 earned run average for the Lyons.
Quigley's transition to UConn was seamless, earning First Team All-BIG EAST accolades in his debut season with the Huskies. His calling card was the strikeout, duplicating his effort with Wheaton by striking out a team-high 74 batters for UConn in 76 ? innings, which also topped the staff in 2023. The Massachusetts native fanned a career-high 87 batters to lead all BIG EAST hurlers, en-route to being named to the ABCA All-Northeast First Team.
Quigley finished his collegiate career with an 18-10 win-loss record between Wheaton and UConn to go with 253 strikeouts, while issuing just 72 walks in 266 ? innings pitched. He recorded a 3.62 ERA, while making 52 appearances, including 44 starting assignments.
