Evansville Otters Website

Seahawks In The Pros

Evansville, IN – Vin Avella (Matawan, NJ / CBA) became the second member of the 2010 Seahawks to ink a professional contract when the power-hitting Wagner first baseman joined former teammate Andy Wells (Staten Island, NY / St. Peter's) on the independent Evansville Otters of the Frontier League. He is the eighth former Seahawk in the last six years to ink a professional baseball contract and the second this year.

“I am very proud of Vinny ... he is well deserving of playing in the professional ranks,” said head coach Joe Litterio. “He has had a great career for us and hopefully it carries over to the next level.”

Avella leaves Grymes Hill as arguably the finest power threat the school has ever produced. The two-time Team MVP concluded his career with school-records in home runs (50) and RBI (161) while ranking second in hits (229), runs (140), doubles (52), games (211) and at-bats (748).

This past season, Avella captured his second Team MVP award in three years while blasting a school-record 17 home runs and 60 RBI while also ranking first on the squad with a .327 average. A four-year starter he became what is believed to be the first player in Northeast Conference (NEC) history to notch 50 career home runs with this blast against Monmouth at the 2010 NEC Tournament.

Avella joins Wells, who struck out five while yielding three runs on eight hits over 4.0 innings in his professional debut last Sunday, on the 24-man roster

The 12-team Frontier League is broken up into two divisions with the Otters being aligned in the West Division with the Florence Freedom, Gateway Grizzlies, Normal CornBelters, River City Rascals and Southern Illinois Miners. Evansville is currently in last place with a 22-38 mark.

There are now seven former Seahawks in the professional ranks, including four in affiliated baseball. Follow all six players via the “Seahawks In The Pros" page.