Justin Blood
Justin Blood (born November 20, 1979) is an American college baseball coach, currently serving as head coach of the Hartford Hawks baseball team. He was named to that position prior to the 2012 season.[1][2][3][4][5][6]
Blood in 2014 | |
Current position | |
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Title | Head coach |
Team | Hartford |
Conference | America East |
Record | 199–249 |
Biographical details | |
Born | Keene, New Hampshire | November 20, 1979
Playing career | |
1999–2001 | Frankin Pierce |
Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
2003 | Quinnipiac (Asst.) |
2004–2005 | Franklin Pierce (Asst.) |
2006–2011 | Connecticut (Asst.) |
2012–present | Hartford |
Head coaching record | |
Overall | 199–249 |
Tournaments | American East: 9–10 NCAA: 0–2 |
Accomplishments and honors | |
Championships | |
| |
Awards | |
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Playing career
Blood pitched for three seasons at Franklin Pierce. In 2000, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Orleans Cardinals of the Cape Cod Baseball League.[7] Blood become the first baseball player ever drafted from Franklin Pierce, being selected by the Seattle Mariners in the 9th round of the 2001 MLB Draft. He played three seasons in the Mariners organization, reaching Class-A.[1][2]
Coaching career
After ending his playing career, Blood became an assistant coach at Quinnipiac before spending the next two years at Franklin Pierce completing his degree and serving as a student assistant. From 2006 through 2011, Blood served on the staff of Jim Penders at Connecticut, later adding recruiting coordinator and associate head coach duties. He was responsible for recruiting players including Mike Olt, Matt Barnes, and George Springer, and helped the Huskies to a pair of regionals and a super regional while his pitching staffs ranked among the nation's best. He was hired at Hartford during the Huskies 2011 NCAA Tournament run, and has been tabbed one of the nation's top 10 under 40 head coaches by Baseball America.[1][6]
In 2012 and 2013, Blood's first two seasons at Hartford, the Hawks had losing records and missed the conference tournament. In 2014, however, Hartford went 31–23 and qualified for the America East Tournament, where they went 1–2. It was Hartford's first winning season since 1992 and first postseason appearance since 1996.[8][9][10] Following the season, Blood signed a five-year contract extension through the 2019 season.[11]
Head coaching record
This table depicts Blood's record as a head coach.
Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hartford Hawks (America East Conference) (2012–present) | |||||||||
2012 | Hartford | 16–40 | 7–17 | 5th | |||||
2013 | Hartford | 17–36 | 13–17 | 5th | |||||
2014 | Hartford | 31–23 | 16–7 | 2nd | America East Tournament | ||||
2015 | Hartford | 23–31 | 10–12 | 5th | America East Tournament | ||||
2016 | Hartford | 37–18 | 14–9 | 2nd | America East Tournament | ||||
2017 | Hartford | 20–30 | 8–13 | 7th | America East Tournament | ||||
2018 | Hartford | 26–31 | 16–8 | 1st | NCAA Regional | ||||
2019 | Hartford | 23–34 | 11–13 | 6th | America East Tournament | ||||
2020 | Hartford | 6–6 | 0–0 | Season canceled because of COVID-19 | |||||
Hartford: | 199–249 | 95–96 | |||||||
Total: | 199–249 | ||||||||
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
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References
- "2013 Baseball Coaching Staff". Hartford Hawks. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
- "Baseball Alum Justin Blood Tabbed as Head Coach at University of Hartford". Franklin Pierce University. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
- "Justin Blood Profile". UConn Huskies. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
- Mike Anthony (September 20, 2011). "Coach Justin Blood Aims To Build Respect For UHart Baseball". Hartford Courant. Hartford, Connecticut. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
- Dom Amore (May 31, 2011). "UConn Assistant Justin Blood Named UHart Baseball Coach". Hartford Courant. Hartford, Connecticut. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
- Aaron Fitt (January 3, 2013). "The Top 10 College Head Coaches Under 40". Baseball America. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
- "2000 Orleans Cardinals". thebaseballcube.com. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
- Jacobs, Jeff (May 21, 2014). "Blood Has Injected a Spark into Hartford Baseball Team". The Hartford Courant. Archived from the original on May 30, 2014. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
- "All-Time Coaching Records" (PDF). HartfordHawks.com. Hartford Sports Information. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 10, 2013. Retrieved June 10, 2013.
- "2013 America East Conference Baseball Record Book" (PDF). AmericaEast.com. America East Conference. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 21, 2013. Retrieved May 20, 2013.
- Anthony, Mike (July 3, 2014). "Hartford Baseball Coach Justin Blood Signs Five-Year Contract". Courant.com. The Hartford Courant. Archived from the original on July 5, 2014. Retrieved July 5, 2014.
External links
- Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference (Minors)
- Official Biography, Hartford Hawks