UConn Baseball Recruiting and Commitment Thread | Page 30 | The Boneyard

UConn Baseball Recruiting and Commitment Thread

Joined
Dec 25, 2011
Messages
7,188
Reaction Score
8,765
Local blurb on Big North Conference's pitcher of the month - Josh Cohen of Indian Hills (the fact that he's even playing baseball today, not to mention going to a a D1 baseball program is an accomplishment in and of itself).

"Big North Conference pitcher: Josh Cohen, Indian Hills, Sr.

Cohen started his season off with a bang and struck out 15 batters on his way to a complete-game 4-0 win over Marist on April 6. The UConn recruit allowed just two hits in the victory and walked one. Cohen is a cancer survivor and through the Make-a-Wish Foundation pitched in front of scouts at the New York Mets' training facility in Florida last year."


Baseball Players of the Week: Top hitters, pitchers in every conference for Week 1

As the high school infield is still under water (the school is on the side of a hill, so its all tiers with the high school itself on top and the baseball diamond/soccer field at the bottom and as water runs downhill...), I caught Josh Cohen pitch for a bit today. The high school was using the 90' Rec Field, which happens to be across the street from the 60' field my 9U travel team had a game today.

He's not a big guy (I guessed 5' 10", PG has him at 6' 1"); but still is imposing as he just gives off this 'angry professional' vibe as his warm-up pitches hitting the catcher's mitt have a notiable bite to them vesus what I heard from the other guys. He has a high leg lick and talks to himself a lot on the mound. I caught roughly 4 innings and he gave-up 2 hits, 2 walks and no runs. PV, which has a good team, did load the bases in the 3rd with 2 outs; but, Cohen just overpowered the next guy with 3 straight fastballs. One of the Hills' coaches was next to me and had a gun showing Cohen was hitting low '80's. But I bet he can go higher as he was fighting with a soft/wet mound. His fastball ranges between waist and knee high on average and he also flashes an off-speed pitch that really drops. So, good command. His weakness, especially watching him deal with poor footing, is sometimes he tries to do too much. I could hear Hill's Head Coach tell him to 'just pitch,' a lot. Decent glove an defense from what I saw as he easily took care of a 1-3 ground-out and comfortably covered a 3-1 put-out, also. I did not see him bat.

I would also like to catch Favieri this Spring, to; but, its unlikely as I would have to make a special trip to see him as Ridgewood is class IV and thus does not play any of the nearby high schools, which are class II or III. Plus, I suspect I will have no free time once the rain (hopefully) ends as I will be in a mad scramble with make-up games for my 9U and 12U baseball teams.
 
Last edited:
Joined
Mar 24, 2012
Messages
17,535
Reaction Score
36,436
During the South Florida game broadcast today, Chris Jones mentioned that a California JUCO had just committed to UConn, signing a letter of intent. No name or what position the guy plays was mentioned.
 
Joined
Dec 25, 2011
Messages
7,188
Reaction Score
8,765
Got a bit lucky today as it was nice out, had an open weekend, none of the 3 youth baseball teams I am coaching rescheduled a game to today, and Hills had a non-division game scheduled with Ridgewood that was not surprisingly cancelled in light all of the divisional and county games that need to be made-up due to the weather.

I was a bit surprised that Ridgewood went mostly with an A-team as they have two division games to make-up this week and are playing a County Semi-Final game on Saturday. Hills, which was the 12th Seed in the same County Tournament and was upset at the 21st Seed (Hill’s field was non playable), fielded mostly a B team. Naturally, Ridgewood, which is projected to be the 2nd Seed in the North 1 Group 4 State Playoffs that begin next week, beat Hills, which is projected to be the 10th Seed in the North 1 Group 3 playoffs, 9-2. Hills was only down 3-1 at the start of the 5th before their Sophomore Starter got tired and was tagged for a 3-run double and then a 2-run Home Run to blow the game open. Josh Cohen did not play at all, though he did smile when I saw my UConn 6th Borough T-shirt and was the only Hills player not to cheer when Favieri struck-out. Oh, both teams need more practice as there were 3 or 4 high pop flies that players lost in the sun and blue sky, neither of which the kids have seen a lot of this Spring.

Favieri played 2B for 6 innings and then came in the 7th to pitch with the Maroons up 9-2 to close it out. He’s about the same high as Cohen; but, is not as built as the Hills pitcher is. That said, his technique looks better and he was very calm. His fastball, which looked to be in the low 80’s, was unhittable. When he missed, he always missed high. He did record 3 K’s; but, did allow 2 baserunners. His off-speed curve needs work as the Hills batters keyed on hit. They smacked a pair of deep fouls to Left, an error with a pop fly to Center was lost in the sun, and a single ripped just past the 1st Baseman. I did not know is that he throws Right; but, hits Left. He ground-out and struck-out in the 2 at bats that I saw (I know I missed at least 1 of his at-bats talking to a neighbor).
2019 Spring - Misc, Favieri pitching v Hills.jpg
 
Last edited:
Joined
Mar 24, 2012
Messages
17,535
Reaction Score
36,436
UConn baseball has gotten a commitment from California JUCO Zach Bushling, a 5'9'' lefty hitting middle infielder from Sierra College, the school which also sent Mike Woodworth and Jeffrey Kersten to Storrs. I checked a few game box scores, and found that Bushling played 2B in those games this season.


 
Last edited:
Joined
Aug 26, 2011
Messages
86,931
Reaction Score
323,061
UConn baseball has gotten a commitment from California JUCO Zach Bushling, a 5'9'' lefty hitting middle infielder from Sierra College, the school which also sent Mike Woodworth to Storrs. I checked some game box scores, and found that Bushling played 2B this season.



Well that apparently answers that outstanding question...
 
Joined
May 3, 2016
Messages
480
Reaction Score
1,457
Article on UConn commit Todd Petersen, which asks the question, can someone who is 6'6'' play shortstop on the college level?

Newtown’s Peterson a chip off the old block

Saw him play this year. Very fluid defender, made some nice throws on the run (charging soft grounders) and he is fast. Needs to get stronger at the plate, doesn't drive the ball as you would think a kid his size would.
 

uconnbaseball

Hey there
Joined
Aug 26, 2011
Messages
6,733
Reaction Score
8,540
Saw him play this year. Very fluid defender, made some nice throws on the run (charging soft grounders) and he is fast. Needs to get stronger at the plate, doesn't drive the ball as you would think a kid his size would.

Sounds like a dude this staff can develop into a monster after some time in the weight room.
 
Joined
Aug 26, 2011
Messages
6,374
Reaction Score
16,572
Do we have a nice little Excel list of our recruitment?
 
Joined
Mar 24, 2012
Messages
17,535
Reaction Score
36,436
Do we have a nice little Excel list of our recruitment?

I usually post a recruiting update a few times a year, so here we go again:

2020 season

Gavin Kee - OF/C/1B
Tyler Griggs - 3B/2B
Chris Brown - 3B
Todd Petersen - 3B/SS
Ryan Hyde - C/OF
Zach Bushling (JUCO) - Inf

Andrew Marrero - RHP
Max Nielsen - LHP
Zach Donahue - RHP
Sam Favieri - RHP
Patrick Gallagher - RHP
Joshua Cohen - RHP
Reggie Crawford - LHP
Garrett Coe - LHP

2021 season

David Christoforo - 1B/C
Phoenix Billings - SS
Bryan Padilla - SS

Joe Wozny - RHP
Saar Rosa - RHP
Brendan O’Donnell - LHP/1B
Adrian Siravo - RHP
Calvin Ziegler - RHP
Bobby McBride - RHP

2022 season

Matthew Garbowski - C/OF
 
Joined
Aug 26, 2011
Messages
86,931
Reaction Score
323,061
I usually post a recruiting update a few times a year, so here we go again:

2020 season

Gavin Kee - OF/C/1B
Tyler Griggs - 3B/2B
Chris Brown - 3B
Todd Petersen - 3B/SS
Ryan Hyde - C/OF
Zach Bushling (JUCO) - Inf

Andrew Marrero - RHP
Max Nielsen - LHP
Zach Donahue - RHP
Sam Favieri - RHP
Patrick Gallagher - RHP
Joshua Cohen - RHP
Reggie Crawford - LHP
Garrett Coe - LHP

2021 season

David Christoforo - 1B/C
Phoenix Billings - SS
Bryan Padilla - SS

Joe Wozny - RHP
Saar Rosa - RHP
Brendan O’Donnell - LHP/1B
Adrian Siravo - RHP
Calvin Ziegler - RHP
Bobby McBride - RHP

2022 season

Matthew Garbowski - C/OF

Billings is a 2020 I believe
 
Joined
Mar 24, 2012
Messages
17,535
Reaction Score
36,436
Billings is a 2020 I believe

I label the classes by the spring that they arrive on campus. Yes, he graduates high school in 2020, but his freshman spring season will be in 2021. Yes, probably a little confusing since it seems most recruiting lists go by the year of high school graduation.
 
Joined
Aug 26, 2011
Messages
86,931
Reaction Score
323,061
I think @dbmill's list is by "first season in a Husky uniform," not "HS graduating class."
I label the classes by the spring that they arrive on campus. Yes, he graduates high school in 2020, but his freshman spring season will be in 2021. Yes, probably a little confusing since it seems most recruiting lists go by the year of high school graduation.

Got it. I forgot to take my football helmet off...
 
Joined
Aug 26, 2011
Messages
86,931
Reaction Score
323,061


WILBUR CROSS 2, WESTHILL 1
Andrew Marrero pitched a complete game, 1-hitter and struck out 14 in Wilbur Cross’ first tournament victory since 2002. Angel Galindez had two hits and two stolen bases for Cross. TJ Wainwright pitched seven innings allowing only 1 run, but took the loss for Westhill.

Westhill
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
1
1
0
Wilbur Cross
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
1
2
5
7
Batteries: Westhill–T.J. Wainwright, Evan Campbell (8, 0-1), James Gerard (8) and Matt OConnor; Wilbur Cross–Andrew Marrero, Angel Galindez (8, 5-0) and Angel Galindez
Team records: Westhill (6-2-0); Wilbur Cross (10-6-0)


Comments: Marrero pitched 7 strong innings striking out 14 and only allowing 1 hit and 1 unearned run. Angel Galindez had 2 hits for Wilbur Cross and 2 SB. Westhill: TJ Wainwright pitched 7 innings allowing only 1 run.
 
Joined
Dec 25, 2011
Messages
7,188
Reaction Score
8,765
Officials moved this playoff game up to 2 PM yesterday to get it in before the storms hit. Favieri threw 5 hitless for Ridgewood innings and gave-up 1 hit and 1 run. The 1 hit (and RBI) was a bunt. Not sure if he will pitch in the North 1 Group IV Section Championship game against Bloomfield (#1 seed) as schedules and pitch-counts are all screwed-up due to the bad weather.


Josh Cohen's HS baseball career is over after Indian Hills lost to nemesis Pascack Valley (split the regular season 1-1, lost in the State Playoffs) in the prior round, which he was not available to pitch as he had thrown in the prior game
 

HuskyHawk

The triumphant return of the Blues Brothers.
Joined
Sep 12, 2011
Messages
31,858
Reaction Score
81,473
So I looked at @dbmill's list. And read through some of the thread. Hard to get a feel for how these guys project at this level. I see low 80's fastball and that makes me think "red-shirt".

It's also somewhat difficult for those of us less familiar with the draft etc. to get a feel for who we are losing and who will be back.

Prato is a Junior. Is he gone?
Wallace is a Junior, I'm assuming he's gone.
Feole, also a junior. Back? Gone?
I'm assuming the other juniors aren't drafted and return. CJ is a RS Senior? Back?

We obviously lose seniors Woodworth, Phillips, Gardner, Kersten,
 
Joined
May 27, 2015
Messages
13,107
Reaction Score
86,889
So I looked at @dbmill's list. And read through some of the thread. Hard to get a feel for how these guys project at this level. I see low 80's fastball and that makes me think "red-shirt".

It's also somewhat difficult for those of us less familiar with the draft etc. to get a feel for who we are losing and who will be back.

Prato is a Junior. Is he gone?
Wallace is a Junior, I'm assuming he's gone.
Feole, also a junior. Back? Gone?
I'm assuming the other juniors aren't drafted and return. CJ is a RS Senior? Back?

We obviously lose seniors Woodworth, Phillips, Gardner, Kersten,
Prato is likely gone, basically any junior taken will end up signing. There's always exceptions like LJ Mazzilli but the upside is limited as college seniors often get low signing bonuses with the lack of leverage.

Good bet Feole is gone if he's taken day 2 as teams don't want to waste those picks since they also lose the slot money if a player doesn't sign.
 
Joined
Dec 25, 2011
Messages
7,188
Reaction Score
8,765
Officials moved this playoff game up to 2 PM yesterday to get it in before the storms hit. Favieri threw 5 hitless for Ridgewood innings and gave-up 1 hit and 1 run. The 1 hit (and RBI) was a bunt. Not sure if he will pitch in the North 1 Group IV Section Championship game against Bloomfield (#1 seed) as schedules and pitch-counts are all screwed-up due to the bad weather.


Josh Cohen's HS baseball career is over after Indian Hills lost to nemesis Pascack Valley (split the regular season 1-1, lost in the State Playoffs) in the prior round, which he was not available to pitch as he had thrown in the prior game

And Ridgewood is off to the Group IV State Championship Game after a 6 to 1 win over Westfield today behind Favieri who went 6 1/3 today throwing 103 pitches giving-up 1 ER while while striking out 6. The recap has a nice little post-game interview with him.


The Maroons will now play Eastern Regional (Voorhees Township) down in Hamilton (near Trenton) on Saturday for its first ever appearance in the state championship game.
 

Online statistics

Members online
91
Guests online
2,167
Total visitors
2,258

Forum statistics

Threads
155,752
Messages
4,030,452
Members
9,864
Latest member
leepaul


Top Bottom