Junior pitcher Ryan Dromboski pitches against St. John's on Jun 1.
Credit: Weining DingOver the last two seasons, Penn baseball has won two Ivy League titles and reset expectations for what an Ancient Eight program can accomplish at the national level. Now, the program is doing the same when it comes to producing professional talent.
Over the last several weeks, three Penn baseball pitchers signed MLB contracts, a testament to the quality of the Quakers’ staff. Eli Trop, a recent graduate, was drafted by the local Philadelphia Phillies in the 16th round of the MLB draft. Cole Zaffiro, another recent graduate, went undrafted but signed a free-agent deal with the New York Yankees. And on Monday, Ryan Dromboski, who recently finished his junior season with the Red and Blue, announced he had signed a free agent deal with Philadelphia.
Another former Quaker also earned a shot in the big leagues — Jackson Appel, who graduated from Penn in 2023 and spent last season as a graduate transfer at Texas A&M, was selected by the Chicago White Sox in the sixth round of the draft. Appel and Trop became the first pair of Quaker alumni to be selected in the same draft since Matt O’Neill and Josh Hood in 2019.
Appel was a two-time All-Ivy selection during his time with the Quakers, garnering an All-Ivy first team nod during his senior year. That season, he started all 50 games behind the plate for Penn, led the team in walks and runs, and threw out 39% of attempted base-stealers. He continued to excel at Texas A&M, racking up 78 hits and finishing with a batting average of .331.
Trop was a high-impact reliever during his time in the Red and Blue, playing a pivotal role in both of Penn’s consecutive Ivy League titles. Trop averaged a 2.85 ERA across 2023 and 2024 and recorded the final three outs in the Quakers’ title-clinching win over Cornell as a senior. Trop was also renowned for his ferocious pitch velocity, with his fastball in the neighborhood of 90 mph.
Zaffiro was a critical cog in Penn’s starting staff over the past two seasons, earning first team All-Ivy honors as a junior and a second team selection as a senior. He led the Ivy League with 96 strikeouts in 2024 and allowed three earned runs in six innings of work in Penn’s NCAA Regional matchup against No. 12 Virginia. Coach John Yurkow frequently praised Zaffiro’s poise on the mound, saying it was pivotal to the team’s success.
“Zaffiro is as steady as they come,” Yurkow said following Zaffiro's' win over Princeton in the 2023 Ivy League Tournament. “And it’s really good to have that demeanor as a starting pitcher because he never gets too high, never gets too low.”
Dromboski has created a legend for himself over the final two seasons of his Penn career, searing himself into fans and opponents’ memories with his fiery personality and scorching pitches. The 2023 Ivy League Pitcher of the Year led the conference with a 2.27 ERA as a sophomore and followed it up with another honroable mention All-Ivy selection as a junior. In 2023, he broke the program record for strikeouts in a game with 15 punch-outs in a win over rival Princeton. Known eponymously by his nickname “Drombo,” Dromboski forgoes his final season of collegiate eligibility but leaves a larger-than-life legacy behind.
“With those high-stakes pitches, I think that whatever I feel on the mound will be reciprocated by the team,” Dromboski said of his playing style. “I love playing this game with energy. I want to have fun in this game. I want to play this game because I love it, and not because I have to.”
All four players will begin their professional journeys in the minor leagues, with hopes of working their way to the show. And no matter where their careers end up, their Red and Blue legacy will remain.
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