Photo courtesy of Matt Zuro | Chicago Dogs Connor Grey signed with the New York Mets on Thursday after going 3-2 with a 3.17 ERA for the Chicago Dogs this spring.

The final game of Connor Grey’s high school career took place in Binghamton.

Now the 2012 Frewsburg graduate will return to the city just over 200 miles east of his hometown to continue his baseball journey.

The Chicago Dogs transferred the contact of Grey to the New York Mets on Thursday and the right-hander will report to the Mets’ Double-A affiliate, the Rumble Ponies, within the next couple of days.

Grey experienced a strong start to the season this spring with the Dogs, a member of the independent American Association of Professional Baseball.

In six starts for Chicago, Grey finished with a 3-2 record and a 3.17 earned run average. In 34 innings, he struck out 37 batters while allowing 27 hits and 11 walks. Opposing hitters had a .214 batting average against Grey.

Grey was especially effective in his two most recent starts, which attracted the attention of Major League Baseball organizations.

On June 9 at Sioux City, Grey threw seven innings of four-hit ball, allowing on earned run and two walks while striking out eight.

On Tuesday, the 27-year-old helped Chicago move into first place with a dominant eight-inning performance during which he allowed three hits and one earned run while walking one and striking out eight.

Grey pitched four years at St. Bonaventure University before being drafted in the 20th round of the 2016 MLB draft by the Arizona Diamondbacks.

In four years in the Diamondbacks organization, Grey went 27-17 with a 3.95 ERA in 57 starts. He struck out 324 in 369 innings.

He became a casualty of both the coronavirus pandemic and Minor League Baseball’s reorganiation last spring before signing with Chicago this winter.

The Dogs became attractive to Grey because they are managed by Butch Hobson, who just happened to be the manager of the Kane County Cougars when Grey enjoyed the highlight of his professional career Sept. 1, 2017. That night, the 6-foot-1, 195-pounder threw the Cougars’ first ever perfect game and the first in the Class-A Midwest League since Burlington’s Chris Coughlin beat Beloit on June 30, 2004.

Binghamton is currently last in the Double-A Northeast’s Northeast Division with an 11-26 record, 13 games behind first-place Somerset. The Rumble Ponies have allowed 225 runs in 37 games and are 10th out of 12 teams in the league with a 5.54 ERA. The pitching staff has allowed a .261 average against and 44 home runs in 321 2/3 innings.

Binghamton is currently in the midst of a 12-game homestand with three games remaining against Portland. The Rumble Ponies will then embark on a 12-game road trip before returning to Mirabito Stadium on July 6.