2008 Woodie Awards
Huskies Turn To Folino To Stop Slide
Baseball
Mike Northup
Issue date: 4/18/08 Section: Sports
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To help right the ship, however, the UConn (19-19, 6-9 Big East) will have to look no further than to today's starter John Folino for inspiration.
Folino (3-2, 2.84 ERA) will take the hill in the series opener against Seton Hall (23-13, 10-5) today at 3 p.m. at J.O. Christian Field. Dan Mahoney (0-4, 6.37) will start game two on Saturday at noon, while Mike Hashem (1-1, 1.06) will take the hill for the series finale on Sunday at noon for the Huskies.
The first two seasons in a UConn uniform were a huge battle for Folino to say the least. He combined to go 0-4, with a 6.72 ERA in eight appearances, three of which were starts in his freshman and sophomore year.
"The last two years, we spent a lot of time working on John Folino between the ears and just believing he was good," said head coach Jim Penders. "For a while we kept telling him how good he was and reminding him how good he was and then for a while, we just kept ignoring him."
There was only one person who could fix Folino's troubles, though, Penders said and that was Folino himself.
"He's kind of a great example for us right now," Penders said. "I think a lot of guys can look at him and say, well the last two years he didn't pitch a lot and now here he is. He's worked his tail off and moreso than working his tail off, he's become a confident pitcher. And he's found that not from other people patting him on the back saying 'it's OK, you're OK,' he's found himself from within."
This year, Folino has emerged as the most consistent pitcher in the Huskies' starting rotation since his first start on March 28 against Villanova. He leads UConn in wins and strikeouts, while posting the lowest ERA of any pitcher with more than one start for the team.
In his most recent start, Folino threw 7 1/3 scoreless innings against St. John's, the team with the best overall record in the Big East at 26-8.
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