Justin Blood

Justin Blood
Sport(s) Baseball
Current position
Title Head coach
Team Hartford
Conference America East Conference
Record 87–130
Biographical details
Born (1979-11-20) November 20, 1979
Keene, New Hampshire
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 87–130
Tournaments AEC: 2–4

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]

Playing career

Blood pitched for three seasons at Franklin Pierce before becoming the Ravens' first ever draft pick, in the 9th round of the 2001 MLB Draft. He played three seasons in the Seattle 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.[7][8][9] Following the season, Blood signed a five-year contract extension through the 2019 season.[10]

Head coaching record

This table depicts Blood's record as a head coach.

Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Hartford (America East) (2012–present)
2012 Hartford 16–40 7–17 5th (6)
2013 Hartford 17–36 13–17 5th (6)
2014 Hartford 31–23 16–7 2nd (7) America East Tournament
2015 Hartford 23–31 10–12 5th (7) America East Tournament
Hartford: 87–130 46–53
Total: 87–130

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "2013 Baseball Coaching Staff". Hartford Hawks. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
  2. 1 2 "Baseball Alum Justin Blood Tabbed as Head Coach at University of Hartford". Franklin Pierce University. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
  3. ↑ "Justin Blood Profile". UConn Huskies. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
  4. ↑ Mike Anthony (September 20, 2011). "Coach Justin Blood Aims To Build Respect For UHart Baseball". Hartford Courant. Hartford, Connecticut. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
  5. ↑ Dom Amore (May 31, 2011). "UConn Assistant Justin Blood Named UHart Baseball Coach". Hartford Courant. Hartford, Connecticut. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
  6. 1 2 Aaron Fitt (January 3, 2013). "The Top 10 College Head Coaches Under 40". Baseball America. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
  7. ↑ 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.
  8. ↑ "All-Time Coaching Records" (PDF). HartfordHawks.com. Hartford Sports Information. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 10, 2013. Retrieved June 10, 2013.
  9. ↑ "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.
  10. ↑ 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.
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