With a Harvest of Prospects, UConn Baseball Makes Its Mark

The moment George Springer had waited and worked and prepared a lifetime for came and went last Monday without celebration. There were no embraces or back slaps from his family or Connecticut teammates, no party and no Champagne.

Springer did not even have a chance to hear the Houston Astros call his name and make him the No. 11 overall pick in the first round of the major league baseball draft.

“As a kid and as a player, that’s something you dream of your whole life,” Springer, the center fielder for Connecticut, said Saturday night after the Huskies fell to South Carolina, 5-1, in the first game of the Columbia Super Regional. “And it happens and you can’t hear your name get called. That whole deal. You can’t give your dad and mom a hug.”

That is because Springer was busy making sure he would not be able to turn professional for at least another week. He was on the field as he was being drafted, helping UConn beat Clemson, 14-1, to advance to the super regionals for the first time in the program’s history.

Springer and the Huskies had their season end Sunday with an 8-2 loss, but they were hardly out of place against South Carolina, the defending national champion. When the Huskies took the field at Carolina Stadium, they had 10 players on the roster who had been selected in last week’s draft, including two first-round picks.

In addition to Springer, pitcher Matt Barnes was taken in the first round by Boston, and shortstop Nick Ahmed was picked in the second round by Atlanta, giving the Huskies three picks in the top 85.

This year was a banner draft for Connecticut, which had produced only one first-round pick in the program’s history before this year, and perhaps another watershed moment for a Northern program that continues to prove it can compete for players and victories with any powerhouse from the South.

“I think we have a great opportunity with our geography to attract kids that are interested in playing professional baseball,” Coach Jim Penders said at a news conference Friday. “And now with 10 guys being drafted, it speaks volumes for that opportunity and also for what my assistant coaches have done to develop them and their talent coming in. We do have talented guys in the Northeast.”

And increasingly, Connecticut is making sure some of the best stay in the Northeast rather than head south or west. All three of UConn’s top picks are from New England: Springer from New Britain, Conn.; Barnes from Bethel, Conn.; and Ahmed from East Longmeadow, Mass.

“That is a credit to UConn, what they’ve done with their recruiting,” said Gus Quattlebaum, the assistant director of amateur scouting for the Red Sox. “Back in the day, it used to be the University of Maine. Now it seems like UConn’s been the power of the Northeast.”

Quattlebaum points to the uniform start date instituted a few years ago by the N.C.A.A. for leveling the playing field for Northern teams. He also says the popularity and success of UConn’s football and basketball teams have helped turn the Huskies into a baseball power.

“I think a rising tide raises all ships,” Penders said Saturday. “We use football. One of the things that’s helped us the last six, seven, eight, nine years is that we’ve been able to bring kids on campus in October, show them a tailgate and show them a Division I football atmosphere, whereas 10 years ago, we weren’t able to do that. The leaves are just right: bring the parents on campus. In October, it’s a lot more attractive than if the snow is thigh high waiting for a basketball game.

“And I think when you see UConn on TV in basketball and football, kids want to be part of something larger than themselves.”

The Huskies’ basketball coaches, Jim Calhoun and Geno Auriemma, have taken time to help in baseball recruiting as well. The result is that Connecticut is the only college to have a team in the Bowl Championship Series in football, the Final Four in men’s and women’s basketball, and the super regional in baseball in the same calendar year.

“I think playing at UConn obviously isn’t as popular as playing basketball or football, but I think the last two years, the coaches have done a good job of helping our team out and getting us on a level where we need to be nationally recognized,” Barnes said Friday. “It’s tough playing in a cold-weather state when it’s 45 out and people don’t really want to come sit outside in coats and gloves and hats for two hours. But we make the best of it.”

So do the scouts. Penders said as many as 30 might show up for a regular-season game. Many were no doubt drawn to this year’s squad largely because of Springer and Barnes, but saw a depth of talent that perhaps led to the 10 picks.

“That does improve their visibility,” Quattlebaum said of the first-rounders. “And with that visibility, the other kids get a ton of exposure.”

That was why Penders was hardly shocked when 10 players were drafted. “We were told by a couple of area scouts that it could be as many as 14,” Penders said.

In addition to Springer, the highest pick in UConn history, Barnes and Ahmed, these Huskies were drafted: outfielder John Andreoli (17th round, Cubs), pitcher Greg Nappo (18th round, Florida), pitcher/infielder Kevin Vance (19th round, White Sox), first baseman Mike Nemeth (21st, Milwaukee), pitcher David Fischer (30th, San Francisco), catcher Doug Elliot (35th, Milwaukee) and pitcher Elliot Glynn (39th, Milwaukee).

Penders says he does not expect the Huskies to be that prominent in the draft every year. But the Huskies will not be one-year wonders, either. The scouts are already looking ahead to next year. Second baseman L. J. Mazzilli, the son of the former Mets outfielder Lee Mazzilli, is among those likely to garner attention in the 2012 draft.


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