It’s not often that there are Division I college baseball teams from New England ranked in the Top 25.
It’s even more rare when one is ranked for the first time. That’s the case for Northeastern, which earned its first Top 25 ranking in program history. The Huskies – yup, same nickname as the guys from Storrs – are ranked 25th in this week’s D1Baseball.com poll. UConn is ranked ninth and Boston College is 19th.
What makes having three New England teams in a top 25 college baseball poll more fun is that each team has a local standout on its roster.
“For the first time in program history, your #HowlinHuskies are in the Top 25 D1Baseball poll. Keep rising,” read a tweet from the Northeastern baseball account.
The photo that accompanies the tweet is of Wolcott native and freshman Cam Maldonado after one of his home runs. Maldonado has 10 dingers on the season, a freshman record for the Huskies. Maldonado leads Northeastern in batting average (.396), triples (5), slugging percentage (.736) and stolen bases (21). He is tied for the team lead in hits (57). Maldonado played for Hamden Hall Country Day School.
UConn has former St. Paul star Ryan Daniels, who has played in 30 games and started 19 as a freshman. Daniels is hitting .316 with eight doubles, one triple, one home run, 16 RBIs, a .429 on-base percentage and 12 steals in 12 attempts.
Boston College has former Holy Cross standout Chris Flynn on its roster. Flynn’s story is a terrific one, a former Division III pitcher (Roger Williams University) who has had a strong graduate season with the Eagles at the DIvision I level. Flynn is 6-2 with a 3.97 ERA in 11 appearances, all starts. In 56.2 innings, he has given up 58 hits, 29 runs (25 earned), struck out 68 and walked 28.
Photo credits: Northeastern University, UConn, Boston College athletics.
