Feb. 8, 2013
CBI
Ivy League preview
Inside:
With Cornell's Kellen Urbon
By Phil Stanton
CollegeBaseballInsider.com
Co-Founder
phil@collegebaseballinsider.com
@RoadToOmaha
 Not
many All-Americans come from the Ivy League, but Kellen Urbon is
the exception.
The sophomore from San Diego is a Preseason
All-American after earning Freshman All-America honors a season
ago. Urbon dominated out of the pen for the Big Red, going 3-1
while leading the team with 22 appearances and setting program
records with nine saves and 0.47 ERA. Opponents hit just .170
against the right-hander and only four of the 23 hits he
surrendered were for extra bases, all doubles.
He helped Cornell win its division and earn the
right to host Dartmouth in the best-of-three championship
series. Urbon tossed five scoreless innings in Game 3 of the
series, notching the victory and securing the Ivy League
championship. The Big Red advanced to the Chapel Hill Regional,
dropping a 7-4 decision to host North Carolina before a 10-6
loss to East Carolina ended the season.
Cornell went 31-17-1 overall in 2012, including
22-9-1 in away games. The Big Red was 14-6 in league play.
1. What made your transition so smooth from
high school to college baseball?
Having a good group of upperclassmen really
helped me make the transition on the field. They really led by
example and they taught me that the game doesn't change just
because you are facing better competition. Staying confident was
also a key thing. I tried not to let poor appearances affect how
I handled myself on the field. Also the coaching staff was very
helpful in the transition by preparing us mentally for whatever
we would face on the field.
 2.
How thrilling was it to win the Ivy League Championship and
advance to the NCAA Tournament?
It was an exhilarating experience when we won the
Ivy League championship because we had been working for that
championship series the entire year and to actually be able to
host it and win it in such a dramatic fashion was amazing. Our
team motto the entire year was "working for a regional" and to
actually make that happen was a big boost of confidence in
ourselves. Our regional trip was just as exciting and it was fun
to play such good competition. The brief stint last year at the
regionals definitely served as even more motivation for this
upcoming season for the returning players.
3. Do you have any personal goals for
the 2013 season?
A personal goal I have for this season is to help
my team get back to another regional. I believe that we have the
talent to get back there again and do some damage once we are
there. My goal is to do my job to help the team win.
4. Besides the weather, what do you
miss most from Southern California?
The thing I miss most about Southern California
is definitely the Mexican food; a California burrito to be
specific. If anyone's unsure about what that is, it's close to a
Carne asada burrito with French fries in it. You have to
experience it to understand it.
5. Have you declared a major yet and
what is your most difficult class this semester?
I just recently declared to be an Economics
major. I'm just getting into the upper level Economics classes
and they are definitely my most challenging courses this
semester.
(photos courtesy of Cornell Media
Relations) |
