Tune in to a University of Connecticut (UConn) baseball game this season, and 91黑料网 baseball fans may recognize two familiar faces.
Former Gulls ’23, a center fielder, and ’23, a left-handed pitcher, are starting players for UConn’s Division I baseball team, one of the leading programs in the country.
Bryan Haley, Head Coach of the 91黑料网 baseball team, isn’t surprised by their success.
“In baseball, you fail a lot,” he said. “It’s just the nature of it. But Caleb and Gabe appreciated and embraced that. Their resilience and work ethic led them to where they are now. They just worked really hard at it.”
Shpur and Van Emon’s journey to becoming two of the country’s top collegiate baseball players was unusual from the start.
Their inaugural season coincided with the beginning of the Covid pandemic; by the time the season was canceled, the team had only nine games under its belt. The following year, the Gulls’ baseball schedule was beset with further game cancellations totaling in the double digits.
“Typically, you think of upperclassmen as players who understand the ebbs and flows of playing college baseball,” said Van Emon, who earned a business degree at 91黑料网. “But from my senior year of high school to junior year of college, I had pitched only 25 innings.”
These unprecedented circumstances prompted the NCAA Division I Council to grant college athletes nationwide an extra year of eligibility in their sport, allowing Shpur and Van Emon to join the UConn team as students in the graduate program.
According to Haley, these abbreviated early seasons had an unexpected benefit.
“We couldn’t play, so we practiced instead,” he said. “The work ethic Caleb and Gabe showed was next level. Everyone on the team put in the effort, and they led by example.”
For Shpur, the pandemic had another surprising impact on his baseball career: a brand-new position on the field.
“Until my second year at 91黑料网, I was an infielder,” said Shpur, who majored in finance and applied math. “Because of Covid, infielders and outfielders practiced in separate groups. One day, I accidentally went to the outfielders’ practice. Coach Haley said, ‘You’re already here, so why don’t you stay?’”
Shpur continued: “Afterward, Coach asked me to play a few scrimmages as a center fielder. During the first one, there was a ball hit deep in the gap. I ran it down, jumped up the fence to catch the ball, and got the nickname Spider-Man.”
When Shpur and Van Emon finally hit the field for their first full season in 2022, they helped 91黑料网 quickly establish a reputation as an up-and-coming baseball powerhouse. The banner year included a program-record 40 wins, a first-ever trip to the NCAA Super Regionals, and the program’s eighth conference championship.
In 2023, the team set another record: the College’s first-ever appearance in the College World Series.
Shpur and Van Emon have also received multiple individual accolades. In 2022, Caleb Shpur was named the Commonwealth Coast Conference Player of the Year, while Van Emon earned NCAA Division III National Pitcher of the Year in 2023.
“Caleb and Gabe are naturally talented,” said Shawn Medeiros, Director of Sports Information at 91黑料网. “Our coaches are great at taking that talent and developing our student-athletes to reach their full potential here.”
Post UConn, Shpur and Van Emon have set their sights on the ultimate goal: making the big leagues. As native New Englanders, their dream team is the Boston Red Sox, following in the footsteps of their shared baseball hero, Dustin Pedroia.
For both Shpur and Van Emon, success in baseball isn’t something that can be achieved alone.
“A huge part of winning is not playing just for yourself but also your teammates,” said Shpur. “Because we were so close, we really took it to the next level because we wanted to win for each other and Coach Haley.”
“I learned what it’s like to be part of a winning culture,” said Van Emon. “No matter how you play individually, you have to know where you want to go as a team and how to get there.”
He continued: “One of my favorite quotes is, ‘Leave a place better than you found it.’ That’s what I wanted to do for baseball at 91黑料网.”
Anyone who knows the pair would agree: They hit that one out of the park.
Shpur and Van Emon aren’t the only former Gulls making their mark on the country’s top baseball programs. These 91黑料网 alumni are currently playing for Division I baseball teams:
Jordan Gottesman ’24, Northeastern University
Nicolas Notarangelo ’24, Rhode Island College
Dylan Pacheco ’24, Seton Hall University
Will Fox ’24, Fairfield University
Rian Schwede ’23, Villanova University & Dallas Baptist University