Former Wisconsin Woodchuck Pat Venditte, who pitched both right-handed and left-handed for the New York Yankees’ Class A-Advanced affiliate this past summer, is up for Minor League Baseball’s Reliever of the Year Award. Fans are encouraged to vote for the top reliever online until the Monday, October 25th deadline.

The 25-year-old, ambidextrous reliever had dominating numbers for the Tampa Yankees this past summer. In 41 appearances and 72.2 innings pitched, Venditte struck out 85 batters, walked only 14, and had a 1.73 ERA. Opponents collected only 49 hits against the former Creighton athlete for a miniscule .187 batting average. His impressive performance over the summer earned him a late season call-up to the Yankees’ AA affiliate, the Trenton Thunder.

To vote for Venditte, please go to:
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/news/awards/y2010/reliever.jsp#A

Playing for the Woodchucks during the 2007 summer, Venditte made 26 relief appearances and led the team with nine saves. He finished the year with a 1.76 ERA in 41 innings pitched. His solid performances in the Northwoods League and at Creighton University led Venditte to being selected in the 20th round of the 2008 Major League Baseball draft. The New York Yankees selected him with the 620th overall pick that June.