Coshow becomes first OC baseball alum to reach Double-A

Oklahoma Christian Eagles

From OC Sports Info.
Murray Evans, Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations

TRENTON, N.J. – Cale Coshow is headed where no Oklahoma Christian baseball alumnus ever has been – to Double-A.

The New York Yankees promoted Coshow on Saturday from the Class A Tampa Yankees of the Florida State League to the Class AA Trenton Thunder of the Eastern League, the second time this season the 6-foot-5 right-hander – who starred for OC in 2013 – has advanced a level in the Yankees’ minor-league system.

Now he’s just two steps from the major leagues, at a level where prospects sometimes get called up to the bigs on a moment’s notice.

“I’m just blessed I’ve been given this opportunity,” Coshow said. “I certainly know Who’s plan this is for my life. God, family and baseball are what my life is about. I just hope to make my fellow OCers proud.

“I’m definitely not satisfied because I’m always striving for that next level. I’m striving to be OC’s first major leaguer. I am proud to call myself an Oklahoma Christian Eagle. I certainly have been blessed with my time at such a great school.”

It’s been quite the summer for the 23-year-old Coshow. He began the season in mid-level Class A with the Charleston RiverDogs, with the goal of reaching Double-A by season’s end.

With Charleston, he was a closer, going 7-for-7 in save opportunities and recording a 1.13 ERA and 20 strikeouts in 16 innings. When he was promoted to advanced Class A Tampa in mid-May, he ranked second in the South Atlantic League in saves.

In Tampa, he earned a shot at becoming a starter, and he again excelled. He made 16 appearances for Tampa, nine of them starts, and went 7-2 with a save and a 2.23 ERA, along with 56 strikeouts (and only 11 walks) in 64 2/3 innings.

OC has had only eight players drafted in the history of the program. Only three of those besides Coshow made it as far as advanced Class A – Edwin Maldonado, Nick Aiello and Coshow’s former OC teammate, Chris Burgess, who did so in early 2014 before retiring from baseball.

“I’m so proud of Cale,” OC coach Lonny Cobble said. “He faced some early adversity and worked that much harder and stuck with it and it’s paying off. He is a great representative of OC and the baseball program.”

MLB.com recently placed Coshow at No. 28 on a list of the Yankees’ top 30 prospects, noting that while “coming out of the bullpen, Coshow worked with a 95-97 mph fastball that reached triple digits and flashed a wipeout slider. His stuff hasn’t been quite as overpowering since he moved to the rotation, but he has been effective nonetheless. He has shown the makings of a decent changeup and continued to fill the strike zone in his new role.”

Coshow, from Edmond, went 2-0 as a freshman at Oklahoma in 2012 before transferring to OC. In 2013, he was one of OC’s top starters and went 3-5 with a 4.56 ERA, helping the Eagles win the National Christian College Athletic Association Central Region title and qualify for the NCCAA World Series.

In 13 appearances (all starts) for the Eagles, he pitched 73 innings, with 69 strikeouts, 28 walks and two complete games.

Coshow signed with the Yankees in June 2013 for $100,000 after New York chose him in the 13th round of the Major League Baseball draft. He went 0-2 with a 3.76 ERA that summer for the Yankees’ short-season Class A affiliate, Staten Island of the New York-Penn League.

He began the 2014 season with Staten Island – throwing three shutout innings in his only appearance – before receiving a promotion to Charleston on June 18. He made six appearances for the RiverDogs, going 1-1 and posting a 5.19 ERA with 13 strikeouts and only one walk in 8 2/3 innings before suffering a shoulder injury. He recorded his first professional win on July 6, in relief against the Rome Braves.

He later pitched in 2014 for the Yankees’ Gulf Coast League rookie-league team, starting three games and going 0-1 with a 4.11 ERA and 19 strikeouts in 15 1/3 innings.

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