Justin Blood Explained

Justin Blood
Current Title:Head coach
Current Team:Keene State
Current Conference:Little East
Current Record:0–0
Birth Date:20 November 1979
Birth Place:Keene, New Hampshire
Player Years1:1999–2001
Player Team1:Frankin Pierce
Coach Years1:2003
Coach Team1:Quinnipiac (Asst.)
Coach Years2:2004–2005
Coach Team2:Franklin Pierce (Asst.)
Coach Years3:2006–2011
Coach Team3:Connecticut (Asst.)
Coach Years4:2012–2021
Coach Team4:Hartford
Coach Years5:2022–present
Coach Team5:Keene State
Overall Record:223–297
Tournament Record:American East: 9–10
NCAA: 0–2
Championships:
  • America East Tournament (2018)
Awards:
  • America East Conference Coach of the Year (2018)

Justin Blood (born November 20, 1979) is an American baseball coach and former player, who is the current head baseball coach of the Keene State Owls.[1] He played college baseball at Frankin Pierce from 1999 to 2001. He then served as the head coach of the Hartford Hawks (2012–2021).[2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]

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.[8] 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.

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 UConn, 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.[7]

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.[9] [10] [11] Following the season, Blood signed a five-year contract extension through the 2019 season.[12]

Head coaching record

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

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Justin Blood Named Keene State Baseball Coach. Keene State Athletics.
  2. Web site: 2013 Baseball Coaching Staff. Hartford Hawks. December 22, 2013.
  3. Web site: Baseball Alum Justin Blood Tabbed as Head Coach at University of Hartford. Franklin Pierce University. December 22, 2013.
  4. Web site: Justin Blood Profile. UConn Huskies. December 22, 2013.
  5. News: Coach Justin Blood Aims To Build Respect For UHart Baseball. Mike Anthony. Hartford Courant. Hartford, Connecticut. September 20, 2011. December 22, 2013.
  6. News: UConn Assistant Justin Blood Named UHart Baseball Coach. Dom Amore. Hartford Courant. Hartford, Connecticut. May 31, 2011. December 22, 2013.
  7. Web site: The Top 10 College Head Coaches Under 40. Baseball America. Aaron Fitt. January 3, 2013. December 22, 2013.
  8. Web site: 2000 Orleans Cardinals . thebaseballcube.com . May 6, 2020.
  9. News: Jacobs . Jeff . Blood Has Injected a Spark into Hartford Baseball Team . May 30, 2014 . The Hartford Courant . May 21, 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140527003644/http://articles.courant.com/2014-05-21/sports/hc-jacobs-column-0522-20140521_1_justin-blood-sean-newcomb-hartford-hawks . May 27, 2014 . dead .
  10. Web site: All-Time Coaching Records . HartfordHawks.com . Hartford Sports Information . June 10, 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160304042445/http://hartfordhawks.com/documents/2013/1/22/Records_BB-Year-byYear.pdf . March 4, 2016 . dead .
  11. Web site: 2013 America East Conference Baseball Record Book . AmericaEast.com . America East Conference . May 20, 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130424161321/http://www.americaeast.com/fls/14000/records/base.pdf?DB_OEM_ID=14000 . April 24, 2013 . dead .
  12. News: Anthony . Mike . Hartford Baseball Coach Justin Blood Signs Five-Year Contract . July 5, 2014 . Courant.com . The Hartford Courant . July 3, 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140717012503/http://www.courant.com/sports/college/blog/hc-hartford-baseball-coach-justin-blood-signs-fiveyear-contract-20140703,0,528461.story?track=rss . July 17, 2014 . dead .