Chris Elsberry: Players xploding onto college baseball scene Updated 6:02 pm, Saturday, November 23, 2013 ARTICLE IN TODAYS CT POST ON JAKE AND COLLEGE BASEBALL Some nine years ago, Joe Iannucci started his Xplosion Baseball company. Not only does he teach baseball fundamentals and coach all aspects of the game, but he also runs several travel teams that compete in the summer and fall all over the country, playing some 50 to 60 games. And just last week, seven players from those teams and various high schools around the area gathered to sign their letters of intent to play college baseball. Ive been looking forward to this for years. Its been my dream to play college baseball and playing at an Ivy League school is a great opportunity, said Jake Levison, a senior center fielder at Trumbull who will play at Penn. I just feel blessed to have this opportunity. I started coming here (to Xplosion) when I was 11 or 12. It was huge. High school is fun and its a great experience, but it doesnt teach you all the different things about baseball, and coming here, it developed me into the player I am today. Since he opened, Iannucci said hes helped close to 40 players sign with college programs at the Division I, II and III levels. We try to teach better baseball. Better coaching, better teaching, better instructing, Iannucci said. We play better teams, we face better competition and we try to create a better atmosphere for these kids to get to the next level, either college or professional. Right now, we have around 150 kids in the program. Sacred Heart University works out here. Some nights its absolutely crazy here. (Players) are able to come here and train and it gives them an avenue to get better. Jimmy Palmer and Mike Foley both signed with Rhode Island. Palmer, a senior shortstop at Law, hit .386 last season with a .491 on-base percentage, while Foley, a senior center fielder at Warde, batted .466 last season. Everythings done well here, Foley said of the Xplosion clinics. Joe does a great job here ... throwing, fielding, working out. I wanted to get better hitting for power, consistent power. I had never had a lot of help in those areas before this year. I started here when I was 12, Palmer said, and Ive been with coach I (Iannucci) for five years. It helped me a lot ... Coach I knows the game so well. His hitting philosophy is sound and just having a place to come and work out and get better ... it helped me so much. With the Connecticut high school schedule limited to 20 games (not including conference and state tournaments), the more games these players can play, the better they can become. So Iannucci has Xplosion travel teams starting at 9-under all the way to 18-under. Several of the players who just signed letters took part in a recent tournament in Jupiter, Fla., where Iannucci said close to 300 coaches and scouts attended. You could see the golf carts and the radar guns all surrounding the fields, so you know theyre there, said Kevin Hickey, a senior pitcher/first baseman at Ludlowe who will play at the University of South Carolina-Upstate. It was really good because you get really good exposure, playing against the best teams down there. I started to come here when I was 10. Ive gotten so much better all-around. The same with Adam Dulsky, a catcher at Staples who will play at Division III Williams College next season. I started coming there when I was 14, said Dulsky, who missed last season due to a broken wrist and just started playing again in August. I wanted to take my game to the next level and Coach I really helped me do that. Playing here is really huge, especially in the summer and fall seasons to get that work in. Lots of swings and lots of innings because those game reps are whats going to help you most in the spring. Along with positive reinforcement. Like so many, Drew Arciuolo loved the game but didnt know just how good he could be. After his senior year at Notre Dame-West Haven, Arciuolo will play at Fairfield University. I wanted to elevate my game, get more serious with it. I decided that this would be the next step, Arciuolo said. When Joe told me I could be a Division I player, I believed him. Its all hats off to him. To be honest, it was a dream, but once I heard that, I just elevated my game.
Posted on: Sun, 24 Nov 2013 13:36:16 +0000
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