Pine Bush alumnus John Cain always dreamed about pitching for the MLB.
Now, the Hudson Valleyite, who earned four varsity letters in baseball and three in basketball for the Bushmen before graduating in 2014, is turning his daydreams into reality as a signed free agent with the Los Angeles Angels.
A standout at Pine Bush, the 6’10” Cain, 23, pitched at Lafayette College in Pennsylvania, where he earned a Mechanical Engineering degree. He’s currently halfway through a master’s degree at Manhattan College.
Photo by Steve Simoneau
As a free agent, Cain will play first with the Angels’ Arizona League rookie team and could then be promoted to the Orem (Utah) Owlz of the Pioneer League. He is the first player from Manhattan College to sign as a non-drafted free agent since Jose Carrera by the New York Yankees in 2017, according to the college’s website.
Cain underwent Tommy John surgery — in which a healthy tendon is used to replace an arm’s torn ligament — in his sophomore year at Lafayette, but recovered fully enough to impress the Angels.
Cain hails from an athletic pedigree: His father, Tim, a 1985 Manhattan College graduate, is one of the top basketball players in Manhattan history and a member of the college’s Athletic Hall of Fame. His mom, Alison, played basketball in college and professionally in Dublin, Ireland, and his sister, Kate, just finished a successful sophomore year as a member of the Nebraska women’s basketball team.
