HARTFORD, Conn. _ At the end of Jim Calhoun Way on the campus of UConn _ just a few hundred yards from Gampel Pavilion, where so many figures from modern basketball lore earned their stripes _ is a venue that has begun to build its own impressive reputation.
It's J.O Christian Field, home of the Huskies baseball team, and it's inconspicuous, to say the least. Two sets of bleachers, no more lavish than you'd find at a high school field, flank the first and third-base lines.
The stadium blends into the rural scenery that surrounds the campus. It's not a place you'd expect million-dollar arms to be developed, but that's exactly what the Huskies have done.
Over the past decade, UConn baseball has been as successful at recruiting, developing and sending pitchers to the pros as any other program. Since 2011, UConn has had two pitchers picked in the first round of the MLB Draft _ Matt Barnes (2011) and Anthony Kay (2016). Had he not missed much of his junior season with an arm injury, Tim Cate likely would have joined that list last year, too. He had to settle for the second round to Washington. The team's current ace Mason Feole and hard-throwing closer Jacob Wallace could be next to go high.
Beyond the top-of-the-draft guys, UConn has had later-round arms find success in the pros, too. Scott Oberg is one of the Colorado Rockies' most reliable relievers. P.J. Poulin (11th round, Rockies), John Russell (16th round, Giants), Wills Montgomerie (sixth round, Dodgers) and Patrick Ruotolo (27th round, Giants) are starting to rise up in their respective organizations.
The Northeast is often overlooked within the college baseball landscape with issues ranging from weather to the talent pool. Programs in the Southeast, like Florida and LSU, South (TCU, Arizona State) and West (Stanford, Oregon State) continue to rise to the top, year after year.
So what have head coach Jim Penders, pitching coach Josh MacDonald and their staff done to produce pro level pitching at a clip unlike any of their Northeast counterparts?
