Men - UConn Baseball 2023 | Page 17 | The Boneyard

Men UConn Baseball 2023

dbmill said:
The following players have used up all their eligibility and will not be back with UConn baseball next season.

Dom Freeberger
Ben Huber
Justin Willis
Devin Kirby

The following players were honored on Senior Day, but do have eligibility left over. Whether they are back next season with UConn baseball would depend on a few things, including being taken in the MLB draft, and for a few, probably availability of scholarship money, as well as other considerations.

Ryan Hyde
Garrett Coe
David Smith
Luke Broadhurst
Paul Tammaro
Chris Brown (did not play this season, he is in the Transfer Portal for the second straight summer)

Chris Jones said a number of times during game broadcasts that Broadhurst and Tammaro are expected back with the team if they are not taken in the MLB draft.

David Smith to me is an interesting case. Chris Jones said a number of times during game broadcasts that it is expected that Smith will be selected in the MLB draft. At first I was inclined to disagree that Smith would be drafted, as offensively he had a very similar season last year and did not get selected in the MLB draft.

However, this season Smith played a lot of both 2B and OF, and he did it very well, so he was able to show off his defensive flexibility out on the field this season. I'm inclined to think that showing that he can play all over the field and do it well in addition to his offensive production would certainly be an attractive trait when the MLB draft comes around this summer.

Assuming Smith is taken in the MLB draft, UConn would still seem to have a solid infield next season with the players they have right now who were on the roster this season. That would include Paul Tammaro, Ryan Daniels, and Bryan Padilla. Also, Maddix Dalena looks like a likely solid candidate for 1B with Huber having used up his eligibility. Of course, you never know at this point what the Transfer Portal will produce for possible transfers into the program this fall as well.

Obviously, given the Transfer Portal, it will be interesting to see who on the current roster, especially those who did not get much playing time, ends up as possibly leaving UConn baseball after this season. Also possible player(s) who did get some significant playing time could leave as well.
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Smith looked more natural in the infield to me than the outfield. With his work ethic I think his reads in the outfield could improve and take him to another level defensively if he gets a shot at playing every day as a pro.
 
Shortking98 said:
Smith looked more natural in the infield to me than the outfield. With his work ethic I think his reads in the outfield could improve and take him to another level defensively if he gets a shot at playing every day as a pro.
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his jumps in the outfield have improved quite a bit in the brief time he's been out there. If anyone can figure it out it's Smitty.
 
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PASTE04038! said:
it is
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Who do we lobby to get a UMaine-UConn game at Hadlock Field in Portland next year? Homecoming for Afthim. A little less than 3 hours from Storrs to Portland and about 2 hours from Orono to Portland.
 
Steve UConn72 said:
Who do we lobby to get a UMaine-UConn game at Hadlock Field in Portland next year? Homecoming for Afthim. A little less than 3 hours from Storrs to Portland and about 2 hours from Orono to Portland.
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that would be great but Maine needs to improve it's RPI for UConn to consider it.
 
PASTE04038! said:
that would be great but Maine needs to improve it's RPI for UConn to consider it.
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They did make the tournament this year (RPI 126), but got shellacked in two games. The Bears have been improving slowly over last few years, but whether they ever see the John Winkin days again is questionable. Talk about REALLY being able to recruit. Storrs in April is a tough enough sell, but Orono, Maine? They got to a couple CWS (in the 80's, I think).
 
Steve UConn72 said:
They did make the tournament this year (RPI 126), but got shellacked in two games. The Bears have been improving slowly over last few years, but whether they ever see the John Winkin days again is questionable. Talk about REALLY being able to recruit. Storrs in April is a tough enough sell, but Orono, Maine? They got to a couple CWS (in the 80's, I think).
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They were very good back then(Swift,Sweeney,Bordick, Buckley etc..) but it was way easier to get to Omaha. You just had to win in the northeast. Different beast now.
 
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Steve UConn72 said:
They did make the tournament this year (RPI 126), but got shellacked in two games. The Bears have been improving slowly over last few years, but whether they ever see the John Winkin days again is questionable. Talk about REALLY being able to recruit. Storrs in April is a tough enough sell, but Orono, Maine? They got to a couple CWS (in the 80's, I think).
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PASTE04038! said:
They were very good back then(Swift,Sweeney,Bordick, Buckley etc..) but it was way easier to get to Omaha. You just had to win in the northeast. Different beast now.
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Actually, the first three times UConn made the CWS out of District 1, they only had to beat other New England teams. Some time between 1972 and 1979 (UConn's last CWS team), the NCAA expanded the field for each District to include worthy teams from elsewhere in the nation that couldn't otherwise get in. In '79, UConn was in Northeast Region with Navy, St. John's and Nebraska. The Huskers probably thought they were in a cupcake region, but lost to St. John's 5-0 in the opener, beat Navy in the loser's bracket and then were eliminated by UConn 15-0. UConn then won the region (and qualified for Omaha) by beating the Johnnies 14-4. All eight regions (nee Districts) had four game double elimination tournaments except the East, which had six (three from the Mid-Atlantic area- Delaware, Seton Hall & Delaware) for some reason. An interesting scheduling note (which should sound familiar to long time fans) - UConn went 31-11 that year. Every other team in the CWS WON as many or more games than UConn PLAYED - 42, 46 (Arkansas, which lost in the final), 47, 50, 55 (Cal St. Fullerton, the champ 55-13 coming into the tourney), 53 (Texas, 53-6 coming in), and 55 (Miami @ 55-9).

All that to say that I'd guess UMaine had to beat some folks "from away" in their tourney appearances.
 
Steve UConn72 said:
Actually, the first three times UConn made the CWS out of District 1, they only had to beat other New England teams. Some time between 1972 and 1979 (UConn's last CWS team), the NCAA expanded the field for each District to include worthy teams from elsewhere in the nation that couldn't otherwise get in. In '79, UConn was in Northeast Region with Navy, St. John's and Nebraska. The Huskers probably thought they were in a cupcake region, but lost to St. John's 5-0 in the opener, beat Navy in the loser's bracket and then were eliminated by UConn 15-0. UConn then won the region (and qualified for Omaha) by beating the Johnnies 14-4. All eight regions (nee Districts) had four game double elimination tournaments except the East, which had six (three from the Mid-Atlantic area- Delaware, Seton Hall & Delaware) for some reason. An interesting scheduling note (which should sound familiar to long time fans) - UConn went 31-11 that year. Every other team in the CWS WON as many or more games than UConn PLAYED - 42, 46 (Arkansas, which lost in the final), 47, 50, 55 (Cal St. Fullerton, the champ 55-13 coming into the tourney), 53 (Texas, 53-6 coming in), and 55 (Miami @ 55-9).

All that to say that I'd guess UMaine had to beat some folks "from away" in their tourney appearances.
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Correction - that third team in the Eastern Region (held in Florida) was George Washington. By the way, neither Florida team (UF and FSU who went 2-4 in the region) made it to the championship game, a 2-1 Arkansas win over Delaware.
 
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huskymedic said:
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It will be interesting to see some more of these senior sendoff tweets in the coming days, as it will help us get a better idea of what the UConn baseball roster will look like during fall ball. Certain players who have been honored on Senior Day's in the past I am expecting back, while some others it would not surprise me if they leave the team to move into pro ball or the "real" world, so to speak.
 
Good read by Dom:



Passed Ball <<

-> UConn fell short of the goal, eliminated this June by the hosts in the Gainesville, Fla., Regional. The drought that began with UConn’s last appearance in the sport’s premier event in 1979 continues.

“Last year stung a lot more, because I felt we did have the horses to not just get there but to have a chance to win a national championship,” Penders said this week in Branford, before the second and last of the UConn Coaches Road Shows.

“This year, I didn’t feel that way. I thought we really maximized our talent. To not have a consistent starting rotation the entire season, and to have guys go down at the end with sickness and injuries, and still fought to the end.”

UConn made the Super Regional in 2011 and ’22, the latter year coming with one win at Stanford of getting there. The image Penders, who got his 700th career win during the regional, takes from this year’s Huskies is the last at-bat, David Smith fouling off pitch after pitch before striking out to end the season. “Smith’s at bat was just so emblematic of the team,” Penders said. “He just kept fighting, kept fouling balls off. We got every stitch out of our ability, and the players squeezed every ounce out of us.” <-
 
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d1baseball.com

2023 MLB Draft: Top 150 College Prospects • D1Baseball

With the MLB draft a couple of weeks away, we have a refresh of our College Top 150 Prospect rankings, which were last updated at midseason.
d1baseball.com d1baseball.com

The MLB draft takes place this weekend. No UConn players made the above list of D1Baseball.com top 150 college prospects for the coming draft.
 
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