MiLB Feb 27, 11:31am via Web
Prospect Q&A:
#Astros' George Springer only cares about winning and loves reminiscing with @
UConnBaseball teammates:
atmilb.com/XXyjU5
MiLB.com: Moving back a little bit, between yourself, Mike Olt, Matt Barnes and Nick Ahmed, you guys had a couple of really good teams at UConn. What was it like to be a part of that?
Springer: That experience was honestly something I won't forget. I was extremely fortunate to play with guys like Nick, Mike, John Andreoli. It's another thing that I could go on and on about, just the guys who were there.
But one of the biggest forces to our team was Coach [Jim Penders]. He made sure everyone was loose and let us have fun with what we were doing. He really understood us as players and people. With guys like Olt, Ahmed, Barnes, Andreoli, one of the best parts was how he got everybody to pull in the same direction.When I was there, I have every confidence in the guy behind me. If I strike out, I know he has my back. If Ahmed is on first, I know he's stealing. I've never played on a team like that. We fed on each other, and that started with Coach on Day 1. We knew we had to play hard for the team and its goals. Because of that, we did some things in my three years that hadn't been done by the program ever. And that's a testament as much to the guys who came before us too. The Pete Fatse's of the world, he helped me a lot. Harold Brantley. Pierre LePage. ... It was just the best time of my life.
MiLB.com:Was it even a little sweeter being that college teams in the North don't usually have the success you guys did with the Huskies?
Springer:It was obviously something special for sure. To play for Connecticut and play the big-time schools that have had success historically was huge. And for me, Mike and Matt, it was an honor to represent our state and the place we're all from. I feel like it definitely opened up some eyes and got us some exposure that we normally wouldn't get in that situation.
MiLB.com:Do you still keep in touch with everyone from that team?
Springer: Oh, yeah, I'm in contact with those guys all the time. I'm always checking up on how they're doing, checking their stats. It's something great, just to see as a program where we've gone. It's something special to me to see guys I've played with are having success.
