Men 2022 UConn Baseball @ NCAA Tournament’s Palo Alto, CA. Super-Regional vs #2 Stanford

[businesslawyer]

UConn has had baseball players who attended high school in or near Fairfield County. These include from Westport, Greenwich, Norwalk, etc.

Of course they have and do. I didn't say forget about Fairfield County. I just said it's never as going to be as tied into UConn as teh rest of the state. It isn't.

 

[businesslawyer]

That really depends on where in Fairfield County. If Greenwich/Stamford/Darien/New Canaan/Norwalk/Westport, sure. They'd be more influenced by NYC media. But Bridgeport/Stratford/Trumbull and north? I wouldn't assume they're more connected to NYC than CT.

I'd look at it in a way every BYer would understand: When you want a really good pizza, do you go west to NYC or east to NH? And if it's east to NH, then you're emotionally and culturally part of CT.

I haven't lived in Stamford since they moved the branch downtown, but I have to think its presence there could also do a lot more to raise UConn's profile in SW CT. Maybe Hurley, Geno, and Jim should open up a restaurant like JC did!

I'm not claiming there is a hard stop at the Housatonic River, and everything on one side of it is NYC and everything on the other is CT. Obviously, the further you go east and north from Greenwich, the less NYC dominated it is.

But I remember when I worked in state politics in the 1980s, someone polled Bridgeport residents on the name of their mayor. And the majority gave the name of the NYC Mayor at the time, and not (I believe) John Mandanici.

 

[dbmill]

As far as next season goes, it's hard to say anything until the MLB draft is over and you can figure out who is transferring in and out of the program. Still, at this point I'm inclined to think UConn's position player lineup for next season looks like it has a good solid core that will likely be augmented somewhat by who transfers into the program as well as some incoming freshmen. Of the returning position players, I'm most interested to see how young players like Bryan Padilla and Korey Morton build upon their solid play in the 2022 season. Figure they both have a lot of room for potential growth in their games, some of which will be in the simple reduction of mistakes as they gain more college game playing experience.

As for the pitching staff, we'll see what happens, but I would expect that Austin Peterson and very possibly Pat Gallagher will be gone to the pros. Assuming that happens, we'll be seeing a rebuilding of the starting pitching staff. Have to figure at this point Ian Cooke will probably be a part of that. Very possible some college transfers will figure in here as well. Garrett Coe could figure in as a possible starter, or as a quality long reliever. It took a while for Coe to develop into a solid performer, maybe it will be the same for sophomore Branden O'Donnell to do so as well.

At any rate, led by Cooke, this years freshmen pitchers offer what looks like a rather nice core to build on. In addition to Cooke, Sullivan, and Afthim, Braden Quinn had some good moments, and Chris Jones said several times during game broadcasts that the coaching staff is very high on redshirt freshman Tom Ellisen.

I believe Enzo Stefanoni, Devin Kirby, and Justin Willis all have another year of college eligibility left. They all graduated, but it would certainly help the UConn pitching staff if any of them return to Storrs in the fall. As always, we'll see what happens on this score.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

I'm not claiming there is a hard stop at the Housatonic River, and everything on one side of it is NYC and everything on the other is CT. Obviously, the further you go east and north from Greenwich, the less NYC dominated it is.

But I remember when I worked in state politics in the 1980s, someone polled Bridgeport residents on the name of their mayor. And the majority gave the name of the NYC Mayor at the time, and not (I believe) John Mandanici.

So not only are you an attorney, you also were a politician.

That explains a lot.

 

[dbmill]

As far as next season goes, it's hard to say anything until the MLB draft is over and you can figure out who is transferring in and out of the program. Still, at this point I'm inclined to think UConn's position player lineup for next season looks like it has a good solid core that will likely be augmented somewhat by who transfers into the program as well as some incoming freshmen. Of the returning position players, I'm most interested to see how young players like Bryan Padilla and Korey Morton build upon their solid play in the 2022 season. Figure they both have a lot of room for potential growth in their games, some of which will be in the simple reduction of mistakes as they gain more college game playing experience.

As for the pitching staff, we'll see what happens, but I would expect that Austin Peterson and very possibly Pat Gallagher will be gone to the pros. Assuming that happens, we'll be seeing a rebuilding of the starting pitching staff. Have to figure at this point Ian Cooke will probably be a part of that. Very possible some college transfers will figure in here as well. Garrett Coe could figure in as a possible starter, or as a quality long reliever. It took a while for Coe to develop into a solid performer, maybe it will be the same for sophomore Branden O'Donnell to do so as well.

At any rate, led by Cooke, this years freshmen pitchers offer what looks like a rather nice core to build on. In addition to Cooke, Sullivan, and Afthim, Braden Quinn had some good moments, and Chris Jones said several times during game broadcasts that the coaching staff is very high on redshirt freshman Tom Ellisen.

I believe Enzo Stefanoni, Devin Kirby, and Justin Willis all have another year of college eligibility left. They all graduated, but it would certainly help the UConn pitching staff if any of them return to Storrs in the fall. As always, we'll see what happens on this score.

Aside from figuring out who will be the starting pitchers (both weekend and weekdays), looks like to me there are a whole lot less questions about who will fill roles on this team in 2023, as opposed to 2022 when there were a whole slew of questions that needed to be answered prior to the start of the season. Also, this season saw the solid development of Korey Morton and Bryan Padilla from the previous year's team. Hopefully Matt Garbowski and possibly others can show similar development. A return to 2021 form for Chris Brown would also be big, it will be interesting see how he does in the upcoming college summer ball season.

 

[CtBaseball]

This probably helps us more than it hurts us. We have the best chance to be playing in the NCAAs, and fighting to win regionals, than any other club in the Northeast, and other than Notre Dame any other school in the rust belt as well. The disadvantage in competing against Stanford for west coast athletes is also why we can get a Casey Dana from Seton Hall and have as good a shot as anyway at northeastern players. We gave up ten runs a game this series. Reimagine our pitching if Crawford hadn't gone down, and if we hadn't lost two arms from New England to the first four rounds of the MLB draft.

Northeastern players don't get the national pub that those in the sunbelt do, and due to shorter seasons may be somewhat behind in development, but we are the best drivable option for a large percentage of the country's population.

Agree that the 11 helps us more than hurts. Which for me raises alarm about the likely updates coming down the pike. Once power 5 schools can give out 20-30 schollies a year, we will have a hard time competing for the best talent. Perhaps better situated than most in the big East, but I would expect the gap between leagues to significantly expand.

 

[businesslawyer]

As far as next season goes, it's hard to say anything until the MLB draft is over and you can figure out who is transferring in and out of the program. Still, at this point I'm inclined to think UConn's position player lineup for next season looks like it has a good solid core that will likely be augmented somewhat by who transfers into the program as well as some incoming freshmen. Of the returning position players, I'm most interested to see how young players like Bryan Padilla and Korey Morton build upon their solid play in the 2022 season. Figure they both have a lot of room for potential growth in their games, some of which will be in the simple reduction of mistakes as they gain more college game playing experience.

As for the pitching staff, we'll see what happens, but I would expect that Austin Peterson and very possibly Pat Gallagher will be gone to the pros. Assuming that happens, we'll be seeing a rebuilding of the starting pitching staff. Have to figure at this point Ian Cooke will probably be a part of that. Very possible some college transfers will figure in here as well. Garrett Coe could figure in as a possible starter, or as a quality long reliever. It took a while for Coe to develop into a solid performer, maybe it will be the same for sophomore Branden O'Donnell to do so as well.

At any rate, led by Cooke, this years freshmen pitchers offer what looks like a rather nice core to build on. In addition to Cooke, Sullivan, and Afthim, Braden Quinn had some good moments, and Chris Jones said several times during game broadcasts that the coaching staff is very high on redshirt freshman Tom Ellisen.

I believe Enzo Stefanoni, Devin Kirby, and Justin Willis all have another year of college eligibility left. They all graduated, but it would certainly help the UConn pitching staff if any of them return to Storrs in the fall. As always, we'll see what happens on this score.

Aside from figuring out who will be the starting pitchers (both weekend and weekdays), looks like to me there are a whole lot less questions about who will fill roles on this team in 2023, as opposed to 2022 when there were a whole slew of questions that needed to be answered prior to the start of the season. Also, this season saw the solid development of Korey Morton and Bryan Padilla from the previous year's team. Hopefully Matt Garbowski and possibly others can show similar development. A return to 2021 form for Chris Brown would also be big, it will be interesting see how he does in the upcoming college summer ball season.

Exactly right. The overall number of roster questions will probably be much smaller next year. Having said that, last year we had our 1 and 2 starters. Replacing the weekend starters is THE issue at the moment (unless we are surprised and either AP or Gallagher come back).

 

[businesslawyer]

Agree that the 11 helps us more than hurts. Which for me raises alarm about the likely updates coming down the pike. Once power 5 schools can give out 20-30 schollies a year, we will have a hard time competing for the best talent. Perhaps better situated than most in the big East, but I would expect the gap between leagues to significantly expand.

You are right to worry about that.

 

[Sea Goat]

I have no doubt they earned respect, but this team got a lot of respect. Remember, polls all year long ranked us much, much higher than computer rankings.

Unfortunately, while respect carries over from year to year, criteria for seeding doesn't (and shouldn't). We don't want to be penalized because some school was better than us in prior seasons, and we can't expect to be given breaks because of how we played in prior seasons either.

We were killed by our SOS, and even then getting swept at the end of the season by a team not in the top 100 totally and rightfully killed our chances to be on the fringe of getting a regional at home.

Also, the BE is lagging in conference ratings and that doesn't seem destined to change. It looks like it will be just an "auto bid only" conference for the foreseeable future. The AAC is rated much higher and the ACC sits at #2 just behind the SEC.
Another problem with our SOS is our playing many weak regional and state teams as part of our OOC schedule.
The best we can do to beef up our SOS it seems is to play on extended warm weather road trips in February and March.

(Another example of how getting blackballed by the ACC has hurt us...)

 

[businesslawyer]

Also, the BE is lagging in conference ratings and that doesn't seem destined to change. It looks like it will be just an "auto bid only" conference for the foreseeable future. The AAC is rated much higher and the ACC sits at #2 just behind the SEC.
Another problem with our SOS is our playing many weak regional and state teams as part of our OOC schedule.
The best we can do to beef up our SOS it seems is to play on extended warm weather road trips in February and March.

(Another example of how getting blackballed by the ACC has hurt us...)

All true. But add within our weekday games really focusing on playing the best teams within 90 miles, and playing the best ones home and home and not just once.

 

[storrsroars]

I'm not claiming there is a hard stop at the Housatonic River, and everything on one side of it is NYC and everything on the other is CT. Obviously, the further you go east and north from Greenwich, the less NYC dominated it is.

But I remember when I worked in state politics in the 1980s, someone polled Bridgeport residents on the name of their mayor. And the majority gave the name of the NYC Mayor at the time, and not (I believe) John Mandanici.

I lived in Bridgeport from 88-91. I'm pretty sure almost everyone knew Joe Ganim.

I imagine that Monroe and Danbury are in a different classification than Greenwich or New Canaan (I will admit that one of the three was from Stamford).

I don't know if it was a misjudgment or general policy due to the limited number of scholarships available but when compared to sports like football and basketball, where a school can go three deep (or more) with scholarship players, less than twelve scholarships available for eight position players, three frontline weekend starters and a DH is not close to sufficient.

Comparatively, 13 schollies for 16 hoops positions seems overkill. And 85 full schollies for football seems absolutely ridiculous.

 

[businesslawyer]

I lived in Bridgeport from 88-91. I'm pretty sure almost everyone knew Joe Ganim.

Well, then let's not pay attention to polls and go with your anecdotal belief instead.

 

[storrsroars]

Well, then let's not pay attention to polls and go with your anecdotal belief instead.

I live in PA. I was here in 2016. Don't get me started on polls, lol.

I don't know if your guy did anything as mayor. Hell, I don't even remember him. But Ganim (with some apparently illegal help) built the ballpark, the hockey arena, and tore down the worst slum. The Bridgeport "renaissance" was being compared to that of Providence. People were well aware of Ganim even before he became a jailbird.

 

[LoyalFanCT]

Of course they have and do. I didn't say forget about Fairfield County. I just said it's never as going to be as tied into UConn as teh rest of the state. It isn't.

Last June's class at Greenwich High School had 67 students going to UConn. That is about 10 percent of the class. That is by far the most popular college to attend for GHS students. More students who went to GHS may transfer into UConn, but were not accepted for the first year class.

 

[businesslawyer]

Last June's class at Greenwich High School had 67 students going to UConn. That is about 10 percent of the class. That is by far the most popular college to attend for GHS students. More students who went to GHS may transfer into UConn, but were not accepted for the first year class.

I can't compare one number to nothing. So tell me it's as large a percentage as West Hartford.

And even if it is, when it comes to political/economic lines, the state border is the state border. No matter what local station people in Greenwich watch for their news, the only flagship they can go to for in state rates is UConn. But that doesn't mean that as high a percentage of folks care about UConn sports. Because they don't.

 

[Sea Goat]

Last June's class at Greenwich High School had 67 students going to UConn. That is about 10 percent of the class. That is by far the most popular college to attend for GHS students. More students who went to GHS may transfer into UConn, but were not accepted for the first year class.

UConn academic rep is growing and it is relative bargain compared to dropping $75k at many private institutions, such as say Syracuse...

 

[huskymedic]

 

[dbmill]

 

[huskymedic]

TC Simmons @ #5:

 

[dvegas]

I haven't lived in Stamford since they moved the branch downtown, but I have to think its presence there could also do a lot more to raise UConn's profile in SW CT. Maybe Hurley, Geno, and Jim should open up a restaurant like JC did!

I'm pretty sure an MBA from the Stamford branch is now considered superior to one from Storrs. I remember a long time ago (high school, doing donuts in the snow in the old Stamford branch parking lot on Scofieldtown Road) that the Stamford branch had some D-3 athletic teams. Now that they have some dorms, maybe it's time to bring back sports? Know D-3 won't be a feeder for Storrs, buy you never know (think Duncan Robinson and Ali Marpet)

 

[storrsroars]

I'm pretty sure an MBA from the Stamford branch is now considered superior to one from Storrs. I remember a long time ago (high school, doing donuts in the snow in the old Stamford branch parking lot on Scofieldtown Road) that the Stamford branch had some D-3 athletic teams. Now that they have some dorms, maybe it's time to bring back sports? Know D-3 won't be a feeder for Storrs, buy you never know (think Duncan Robinson and Ali Marpet)

When I was there in 74-75, all we had was baseball. Played against other branches and some community colleges like Norwalk and Housatonic. We had a few kids who were more than decent - Babe Ruth league and HS all-star types. Bobby V's cousin Gary was our catcher. Very short season, like 10 games or so. I managed to get leg injuries both years and had exactly one plate appearance (I walked). But we got to eat at Bonanza on road trips and could get two steaks.

We did start a hockey club in '75. I was manager and got Coach Mazza to call Storrs and get us some old navy blue football practice jerseys (the kind that had the strap that ran between your legs and buttoned up above the crotch). Even had to coach one game where we got annihilated by SCSC and I ended up running 2 minute shifts by the end. We were winless but did manage a 0-1 loss vs NCC in our last game. Our goalie had several pops before the game. He played better buzzed.

 

[SubbaBub]

I feel the same way after Laetner hit the shot in 1990. Sure they were a better team, the HGH was leaking all over the field, but UConn could have easily won either of thoae two games if not for a very small number of mistakes.

They may have lost, but they were not outclassed.

 

[dvegas]

We did start a hockey club in '75. I was manager and got Coach Mazza to call Storrs and get us some old navy blue football practice jerseys (the kind that had the strap that ran between your legs and buttoned up above the crotch).

I have a feeling that coach was Dave "Doc" Mazza? My favorite teacher in high school (history), and later my boss as a lifeguard at the Long Ridge Swim Club. Awesome guy, unfortunately, passed away in 2014

PS, Doc was the commencement speaker at the last Rippowam graduation (1983, as voted by the students), my sister was in that class. I will always remember him saying, "When you need to shorten a chain, you don't remove the strongest link." The Ripp experience was far better than SHS, the Hill, or Stamford Catholic . . .

 

[storrsroars]

I have a feeling that coach was Dave "Doc" Mazza?

One and the same. Bit of a disciplinarian, but fair. We had an interesting relationship. As I was on IL for 95% of my career there, I coached 3b and ran drills. In 2nd year when I had a bad hammy, once I said I was OK to practice, there was no "light" anything. Full out or go home.

There was one game where I made a joke to another player about one of our guys. Coach heard it and threatened I'd have to walk home from Groton if I uttered one more syllable, lol.

 

[huskymedic]