France’s Esposito Signs to Play at Los Medanos CC, Continues Trend of French Talent Moving Abroad

France’s Kenny Esposito has signed to play at Los Medanos Community College (CA), joining 22 other French ballplayers currently competing at the collegiate level in the United States.

“Kenny will join our team as a pitcher, and then we’ll see in practices and scrimmages this fall, if he hits enough to get him into the lineup for spring 2023,” Los Medanos head coach Anthony Albora said of his newest recruit.

Esposito, who started playing at the age of nine in his native Marseille, has also come through the Montpellier Baseball Academy and the French Baseball Academy in Toulouse. He will play for Toulouse in the upcoming D1 season before joining Los Medanos in August.

The 19-year-old right-hander represented France at last year’s U18 European Championship. He struggled in his first outing against Italy but rebounded to pitch five solid innings (3H, 3K, 0BB) against Czechia to help France secure a fifth-place finish at the tournament in Italy. He also collected one hit in five at-bats.

According to the French Baseball and Softball Federation, 22 French ballplayers are currently competing at the collegiate level in the United States, with another two currently playing in Canada.

The highest profile of the 22 athletes would be East Tennessee State University outfielder Leo Jimian, who, as mister-baseball.com has reported, is the first French-trained player to compete at the NCAA Division 1 level. Jimian has compiled a .340/.436/.596 slash line in his first 18 games with the ETSU Bucs.