Yanni Orfanidis

Yanni Orfanidis

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 175 lb.

• School St. Thomas Aquinas College, Herkimer Community College
• High School Archbishop Molloy High School

• Born April 26, 1999

BR register page

Biographical Information

Yanni Orfanidis has pitched for the Greek national team.

Orfanidis pitched for Herkimer Community College then allowed 7 runs (6 innings) in 2 2/3 IP as a junior at St. Thomas Aquinas. He improved to 2-1, 7.56 as a senior. He then pitched for Greece in the 2021 European Championship Qualifier; in his debut, he got a three-inning save, relieving Dimitri Kourtis with a 7-0 lead in the 7th against Poland and allowing two hits and no runs. He closed out a 9-7 loss to Lithuania, relieving Daniel Gosselin, giving up one unearned run in 1 1/3 IP. Greece still won the event for a spot in the 2021 European Championship.

In the 2021 European Championship, the right-hander made three appearances, each better than the last. His first one was versus Austria. Replacing Gosselin with a 7-7 tie and two on (due to the Schiller Rule) to open the 10th, he began by walking Benni Salzmann. Felix Zimmerle singled in a run, then he hit both Georg Stemmer and Marcel Mariette to make it 10-7 before striking out Dominik Talir. After Moritz Scheicher singled for a 12-7 lead, Dimitri Lettas relieved him. Greece rallied to win, though. After that rocky debut, he was Greece's best pitcher in a loss to Sweden. Succeeding Dean Christidis in the 5th with one on, two out and a 8-0 deficit, he retired Joel Johnson. In the 6th, he walked Daniel Johnson, got Thomas Paulich and Niklas Melin on grounders, served up a RBI single to Trolle Brandt and got Oskar Jerfsten on a grounder. He went 1-2-3 in the 7th, striking out Markus Melendez, getting Per Sjörs on a grounder and whiffing Tommy Lindell. The game ended after 7 due to the mercy rule. His final game of those Euros, he pitched two shutout innings in the 13th/14th place game versus Ukraine. He relieved Gosselin in the bottom of the 7th with a 5-0 deficit. He got Kostiantyn Boiko on a grounder. Dmytro Limarenko singled, Yurii Shvets hit into a force and Ihor Lukin singled, then Maksym Gupalenko walked to load them up, but Orfanidis got Vladyslav Kosenko swinging. In the 8th, he retired Roman Boiko then walked Denys Brechko and Oleksii Boiko. Boiko hit into an inning-ending double play.