Wyoming Area’s J.J. Hood signed his National Letter of Intent to play baseball on scholarship at the University of Connecticut Wednesday. Front row, from left: Vicki Hood, mother; J.J. Hood; John Hood, father. Back row, same order: Rob Lemoncelli, head baseball coach; Dr. Jon Pollard, principal; Joe Pizano, athletic director.
EXETER – The University of Connecticut had a familiar feel for J.J. Hood.
“It was just the atmosphere,” Hood, a Wyoming Area senior, said Wednesday in explaining why he had just signed his National Collegiate Athletic Association Letter of Intent to accept a baseball scholarship to play for the Huskies. “The baseball program is run just like how our school program is run.
“It’s just like I’m continuing with the school and travel program.”
Hood plays travel baseball with the Northeast Pride. He was also one of the driving forces behind Wyoming Area advancing to the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association state championship game last spring as a junior.
By then, Hood had already committed verbally to UConn. He let the coaching staff there know of his decision Oct. 30, 2020.
In college, Hood will concentrate just on pitching.
With the Warriors, he was both the number-one pitcher and one of the leading offensive weapons.
Hood batted .370 with six doubles, a team-leading three homers and 20 runs batted in.
As the workhorse of the pitching staff, Hood was 9-2 with a 2.04 earned run average. He struck out 118 and walked just 23 in 79 innings.
Hood and teammates have begun offseason workouts together and will increase their frequency as they get closer to another season.
“Right now, I just stick to the weightroom and try to get stronger every day,” said Hood, who will soon begin preparing his pitching arm for his final high school season. “ … I’ll probably ramp up in a couple weeks and not stop until school season.”
The University of Connecticut won the Big East championship and advanced to the NCAA Tournament in the spring. The Huskies were 13-4 in the Big East and 34-19 overall.
