Author Topic: 2013 Stony Brook Baseball season  (Read 7719 times)

joewillie

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Re: 2013 Stony Brook Baseball season
« on: January 25, 2013, 08:54:07 am »
http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/8875749/chad-holbrook-begins-run-south-carolina-head-coach-college-baseball

Stony Brook's Omaha momentum

A couple of days after Stony Brook returned from its trip to the 2012 College World Series, recruiting coordinator Joe Pennucci headed out with something a little better to sell.

He told recruits about a good baseball program and quality school, of course, and he spoke about past NCAA regional appearances. The Seawolves are proud of those seasons. But now, they're not Pennucci's only bullet. Now he can ask someone, "Do you want to know what it's like in Omaha?"

"Being in Omaha is the best recruiting tool you can have," Pennucci says. "It opens up the eyes of those who in the past may never have heard of Stony Brook or thought of it as a legit place to play or go to school."

This is the true value of Stony Brook's 2012 season. Can Pennucci, who was promoted to associate head coach in August, and the Stony Brook staff parlay one College World Series trip into multiple years of recruiting success? Will the recognition and exposure allow the Seawolves to attract a higher-profile recruit that might not have been interested before?

"I'm a firm believer in trusting your eyes," Pennucci told me. "If I was too worried about the high-profile guys, we wouldn't have gotten [2012 first-round pick Travis] Jankowski. But yes, more high-profile recruits probably return a call or show more interest than they would have before Omaha."

There are still inherent challenges at Stony Brook. It has to sell the America East conference and a cold corner of the Northeast. But Pennucci has proved that he can lure players from all over the country -- Stony Brook has four freshmen from California on the 2013 roster -- and that gives the Seawolves hope.