Pat Mahoney traveled 1,000 miles from his home in Iowa to play Division I baseball at UConn.

Pat Mahoney has never hit below .282 in his four years in Storrs.

From Des Moines To D-I

Mahoney Fulfills Dream At UConn's Hot Corner

By: Mike Northup

Posted: 5/11/08

Coming out of high school, Pat Mahoney wanted nothing more than to play college baseball at the Division I level. His opportunities were slim, though.

While the catcher from Lincoln High School in Des Moines, Iowa, was selected in the second-to-last round of the 2004 MLB Draft by Tampa Bay, no Division I school was giving him any looks. Deciding he wasn't ready to embark on a pro career just yet, he went a different route to try to improve his game.

"I had planned on attending a junior college in Kansas, basically just a baseball school kind of like a middle man [between high school and Division I baseball]," Mahoney said. "I've always wanted to play Division I baseball and I thought if I went there I'd get a real good opportunity to because I really didn't out of high school."

That summer, Mahoney played in the state tournament with Lincoln, advancing all the way to the championship game, before finishing as runner-up.

UConn head coach Jim Penders, whose wife Brooke is a native of Des Moines, just so happened to be out in Iowa visiting family at the same time as the tournament was going on and decided to check it out.

That decision turned out to be a boon for both Penders and Mahoney.

"We had heard that this kid was committed to a junior college on a four-year option," Penders said. "And he was the only high school kid drafted out of all of the state of Iowa that year. So we made him an offer and he was out on campus less than a week after I saw him play in August right before school was beginning."

Mahoney said he was a fan of UConn basketball, but had no idea the school had a baseball program until Penders left a message on his answering machine. Despite that, Mahoney said he didn't think twice about accepting the offer, which had come out of nowhere to fulfill his dream.

"I was really excited to hear from a coach in the Big East, it's a good brand of baseball out here. I was just excited, basically," Mahoney said.

It wasn't an easy process, but with some help from the UConn Office of Undergraduate Admissions, Mahoney was enrolled and on his way to his first class less than three weeks after the tournament ended.

All of a sudden he was over 1,000 miles away from his Midwest home and supportive family. The whole process forced him to grow up extremely fast.

"I feel like I've always been the person who's kind of just go with the flow," Mahoney said. "I feel like playing baseball so much you have to be open to those opportunities. When I was younger, I traveled a lot with our team. Nothing compares to being that far from home, but I feel like it's been a really good experience for me to venture out and I think it's helped me mature."

Mahoney, who has played mostly third base at UConn, has gone on to become one of the most consistent offensive players Penders has had so far during his five-year tenure as head coach. In his four seasons with UConn, Mahoney has never hit below .282, with career highs in batting average (.328) and RBI (33) coming during the 2006 season. He has also increased his stolen base totals every year for UConn.

Even more important than his production at the plate has been his emergence as a leader on the team in his time with the Huskies. Penders named Mahoney a co-captain for his senior year this season.

"I've always been that type of person to lead by example or vocal whatever it may be," Mahoney said. "Over the years, the guys above me I've just tried to take it all in with what they've done. My freshman year we had a really good group of seniors, my sophomore year a really good group, every single year. It's been pretty easy just to suck up all the information from those guys and basically relay it on this year."

Mahoney still hopes to play baseball professionally, but if that doesn't work out he hopes to graduate in the fall and eventually pursue a master's degree in education in order to bring his leadership skills to the classroom and eventually coaching.

Penders is proud of all the hard work that Mahoney and the other three seniors on the team, pitcher/DH Matt Karl, utilityman Brad Olt, and outfielder Gordon Stevens, have put in during their time at UConn.

"They're all tough kids and blue-collar kids - kids that don't have a lot handed to them," Penders said. "They've had to work for everything not just on the field, but off the field. And they've provided a good example for our younger guys."

Contact Mike Northup at Michael.Northup@UConn.edu.