2016 NCAA Baseball Tournament - UConn's Road to Omaha

[dbmill]

Just because they're drafted doesn't mean they are officially gone. Were they quoted as saying they would go?

You would have enjoyed the Vinny Siena and Max McDowell discussions on this board last summer.

 

[Kgun7]

The boys put up a good fight in a very tough regional!! I am glad they were able to extend the season ... and I'm also looking forward to the draft!

 

[itgoeslike]

Would have been so nice to have beaten Florida yesterday, but still a great finish to a season that looked very different a few weeks ago. The talent they do have was augmented by great disciple and drive, which is reflected by the fact they either won or were close virtually every game they played. Hats off to the coaching staff too.

 

[Matrim55]

Incoming recruits (so far):

Baseball College Commitments | Perfect Game USA

 

[dbmill]

Incoming recruits (so far):

Baseball College Commitments | Perfect Game USA

Here's the list from the Boneyard baseball recruiting thread:

2017 season

Chris Winkel – 1B
Anthony Prato – SS
Conor Moriarty – SS/OF
Josh Loeffler – OF
Anthony Nucerino – OF
Benjamin Maycock - OF
Kenny Bergmann – C

Mason Feole – LHP
Nick Chiseri – LHP
Michael Schwartz – LHP
Dillon Stimpson – RHP

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

A mediocre season is not one where you win a conference championship and win a NCAA tourney game.

Apples and oranges but that's what the basketball team did in a thoroughly mediocre year.

 

[scotty0330]

Gonna need some of those newcomers to be ready to play. This is a heck of a class that is graduating or in the case of Kay departing.

What a ride...bummed it is over. They were a lot of fun to watch

 

[Kgun7]

Also ... thanks to medic, 06111, dbmill, and others who have contributed and made following the team a lot more enjoyable. And thanks to ATL for taking one for the team and making the drive down there to represent in Gatorville!!

 

[ct06111]

Also ... thanks to medic, 06111, dbmill, and others who have contributed and made following the team a lot more enjoyable. And thanks to ATL for taking one for the team and making the drive down there to represent in Gatorville!!

Thanks. Don't thank me, I just started following the team more closely earlier this year. I've never been to a game live until the USF series in may. Lots of others here follow and bring more to the table than me. ucjoet for his charts, stairmaster, Scotty, ATL, medic, dbmill and plenty of others. Will try to catch more games live next yr. can't wait for new stadium.

 

[huskymedic]

Just because they're drafted doesn't mean they are officially gone. Were they quoted as saying they would go?

Kay is going to be a first round/high second round draft pick -- he's gone. Nothing left to prove.

Rotoulo possibly top 10-12 rounds. Slight chance he stays but my guess is he's gone as well.

 

[Kgun7]

Thanks. Don't thank me, I just started following the team more closely earlier this year. I've never been to a game live until the USF series in may. Lots of others here follow and bring more to the table than me. ucjoet for his charts, stairmaster, Scotty, ATL, medic, dbmill and plenty of others. Will try to catch more games live next yr. can't wait for new stadium.

Thanks for adding everyone I missed!

 

[dbmill]

Kay is going to be a first round/high second round draft pick -- he's gone. Nothing left to prove.

Rotoulo possibly top 10-12 rounds. Slight change he stays but me guess is he's gone as well.

Chris Jones on WHUS was speculating during the game that Ruotolo could go somewhere between rounds 5 and 10. If that happens, I would be very surprised if he comes back. Also, Coach Penders has said a few times in recent interviews that he expects Ruotolo to be gone next season.

 

[huskymedic]

UConnFootball4:54pm via TweetDeck
That was one heck of a season and postseason run @UConnBaseball We tip our caps (and helmets) to you!#HookC #GetReady

 

[Gurleyman]

Pitchers with MLB potential should really go if and when they have a chance. Pitching arms are fragile things. If you are a righty and you top out at 87, better to get the degree.

 

[hardcorehusky]

I have been following UCONN baseball since the late 70's. This team did more with what they had than most teams. Getting to the college world series is tough - we have 3 MLB players in 2011 and just fell short of the college world series. The key is pitching depth- the mid week guys and bullpen become very important in post season. That said, very proud of this year's Huskies and kudos to Coach Penders. Once he has some facilities - watch out.

 

[dbmill]

Also ... thanks to medic, 06111, dbmill, and others who have contributed and made following the team a lot more enjoyable. And thanks to ATL for taking one for the team and making the drive down there to represent in Gatorville!!

Thanks. Don't thank me, I just started following the team more closely earlier this year. I've never been to a game live until the USF series in may. Lots of others here follow and bring more to the table than me. ucjoet for his charts, stairmaster, Scotty, ATL, medic, dbmill and plenty of others. Will try to catch more games live next yr. can't wait for new stadium.

Plenty of thanks going on here. I'll extend mine out a notch to Chris Jones and WHUS. UConn baseball is not an easy sport to follow, certainly not like the football or the basketball teams where there is plenty of information to be had on those teams from a number of different sources. When it comes to information on the baseball team Chris Jones is a hugely important resource, between broadcasting the games and the interviews that he conducts with Coach Penders and others. No other source really comes close in providing information on the team. I never followed the baseball team closely until about 2010-2011, when WHUS really started expanding their coverage of UConn baseball games. Being able to listen to all the games really made it easy for me to really get into the team.

 

[huskymedic]

Plenty of thanks going on here. I'll extend mine out a notch to Chris Jones and WHUS. UConn baseball is not an easy sport to follow, certainly not like the football or the basketball teams where there is plenty of information to be had on those teams from a number of different sources. When it comes to information on the baseball team Chris Jones is a hugely important resource, between broadcasting the games and the interviews that he conducts with Coach Penders and others. No other source really comes close in providing information on the team. I never followed the baseball team closely until about 2010-2011, when WHUS really started expanding their coverage of UConn baseball games. Being able to listen to all the games really made it easy for me to really get into the team.

 

[huskymedic]

UConn Baseball Eliminated From NCAA Tournament In 7-5 Loss To Georgia Tech

"It's incredibly hard to see the guys that just played their last game in our uniform," UConn coach Jim Penders said afterward. "They gave every drop of energy, sweat and tears to the program over the years. They left it better than they found it. It's very difficult to look them in the eye with the finality of it."

 

[dbmill]

UConn Baseball Eliminated From NCAA Tournament In 7-5 Loss To Georgia Tech

"It's incredibly hard to see the guys that just played their last game in our uniform," UConn coach Jim Penders said afterward. "They gave every drop of energy, sweat and tears to the program over the years. They left it better than they found it. It's very difficult to look them in the eye with the finality of it."

I didn't realize until I read this story that Montgomerie is draft eligible. He is 21 years old, and that makes him so.

 

[RedStickHusky]

Congrats to the team for representing well; I was happy to ride the bandwagon for a couple of weeks. Will try to pay a little more attention going fwd.

 

[ASweet3781]

So East Carolina who lost early in the AAC Tournament and B freaking C get to play in the Super Regionals.

The only thing worse than a garbage Syracuse basketball team making the Final 4 will be if BC becomes the first northeast school to play in the College World Series in 30 years.

 

[Stainmaster]

What a season. Definitely a roller coaster of emotions. I think the main takeaway is that despite the occasional miscues, this coaching staff does a great job of getting the most out of its players. This team has a considerable amount of overall talent, but very few guys were considered the Northeast equivalent of blue chip recruits coming out of school. There's something to be said for kids who grew up in cold weather areas going to a program with a less-than-great reputation when compared to the national powerhouses and going toe-to-toe with some of the best collegiate players in the country.

For those of you who migrated over here for the playoff run, I hope you'll consider following the team from the get-go next season if you have the time and energy. There are a lot of exciting young pieces returning for 2017 (Yahn, Cate, Montgomerie, Toppa, and others), as well as two recruits (1B/OF Chris Winkel of Amity HS and LHP Mason Feole) who are both likely to come here after getting selected in this week's draft. Given the holes that will need to be replaced in the lineup, I can't say for sure how successful they'll be exactly, but they will be fun to watch and continue to play an exciting brand of baseball.

But actually though, who wouldn't want to see a whole season of this?

 

[dbmill]

What a season. Definitely a roller coaster of emotions. I think the main takeaway is that despite the occasional miscues, this coaching staff does a great job of getting the most out of its players. This team has a considerable amount of overall talent, but very few guys were considered the Northeast equivalent of blue chip recruits coming out of school. There's something to be said for kids who grew up in cold weather areas going to a program with a less-than-great reputation when compared to the national powerhouses and going toe-to-toe with some of the best collegiate players in the country.

For those of you who migrated over here for the playoff run, I hope you'll consider following the team from the get-go next season if you have the time and energy. There are a lot of exciting young pieces returning for 2017 (Yahn, Cate, Montgomerie, Toppa, and others), as well as two recruits (1B/OF Chris Winkel of Amity HS and LHP Mason Feole) who are both likely to come here after getting selected in this week's draft. Given the holes that will need to be replaced in the lineup, I can't say for sure how successful they'll be exactly, but they will be fun to watch and continue to play an exciting brand of baseball.

But actually though, who wouldn't want to see a whole season of this?

You know, that picture sums up things pretty well around here. To paraphrase a line from Ray Davies and The Kinks, wish I could fly like Willy Yahn!

 

[hardcorehusky]

I think the pitching next year will be even better- Cate, Montgomery and Rossomondo for weekend, a young bullpen where if Polonia can harness his stuff could have a stud closer and lots of returnees in the pen as well. The freshmen will have their opportunity as well- maybe even Zapata can figure it out.

In the field, we are set with Hill at SS or 2nd, Yahn, Toppa and Susi. If Winkel can take over at first and Gnesda can be the next Deroche-Duffin, we won't have too much of a dip lineup wise.

 

[Gurleyman]

So East Carolina who lost early in the AAC Tournament and B freaking C get to play in the Super Regionals.

The only thing worse than a garbage Syracuse basketball team making the Final 4 will be if BC becomes the first northeast school to play in the College World Series in 30 years.

Stony Brook just went to the CWS a couple years ago.