Vinny Siena was a two time All State infielder at state power Amity of Woodbridge and had the opportunity to play his College ball at Vanderbilt.....But when UConn beat Clemson in the Regionals in 2011, Head Coach Jim Penders shared a story...at the press conference following the win over the Tigers that propelled them to the Super Regional, Coach, without naming Vinny by name, spoke about him in the presser..Who hoped Vinny was paying attention to what the Huskies were doing....They had already landed Max McDowell to commit a few days earlier and needed Siena to say yes too make some in state recruiting hay of the run in 2011...Vinny after leading his team to Class LL Quarter-Finals and an SCC Title in 2012, the next stop was indeed Storrs to play for the Huskies....
He played baseball for the Huskies from 2013-15...and started every game he ever played for the National Flag Blue..63 games in 2013 as a freshman. Where he reached base safely in his first 15 games. Just one of two players who hit over .300 for UConn in his first season at second base. 77 hits, 35 rbi and a 5 hit game against Central Connecticut and recorded 21 multi-hit games. The Huskies battled to an 8th place spot in their last season in the Big East to qualify for their last Tournament before the shift to the American...UConn made a statement, a 3-2 (12 inning) win over top seeded Louisville.....Then a stunning 8-7 come from behind win over USF and a 2-1 victory over Rutgers to gain a spot in the final. Where the seven seed Notre Dame Fighting Irish awaited in the Championship Game...Siena and Pitcher Anthony Marzi keyed an 8-1 win in taking the crown....Siena went 4 for 5 with an rbi in the win that sent the Huskies to the NCAA's.
His Sophomore season was a downer for Vinny Siena where he started all 52 games the Huskies played in a 27-31 season for UConn....Siena hit just .231 with 9 doubles and 25 rbi...He did record a 3 hit game against Illinois, a HR - 4 rbi game against Sacred Heart, a 3 for 4 day at USF....But the steady gloved infielder never lost his will and and work ethic that was an example to the rest of the team. That summer, he played for North Adams of the New England Collegiate Baseball League where he recorded 6 doubles, 16 rbi and 13 runs scored....And as Coach Penders messaged me, Vinny dedicated himself in the weight room and batting cage. Where Coach would see him fine tuning his swing in the old hitting barn by himself on a tee or a machine...Where he made himself into a great college hitter. And as Coach told me, his numbers backed that up.
2015 where Siena started all 50 games the Huskies played, he put up great numbers. a .362 average, 131 points better than 2014...94 hits, second most in program history for a season. 14 doubles, 3 triples, 7 homers and a team high 54 rbi out of the two spot. His 64 runs scored led the AAC,,,a .424 on base %, 27 multi hit games and hit streaks of 18 and 10....he hit safely in 54 of the Huskies 60 games and reached base safely in 57 of the 60. One of Siena's biggest hits was a walkoff single in the 12th to eliminate UCF in the AAC Tournament...he went 3/4 with 2 rbi that day...and drove in 2 more the next day in what would be the Huskies final win of the season, a win over Tulane....Siena First Team All Conference, NEIBA New England POY, ABCA/Rawlings All Region First Team, All New England and with Pitcher Carson Cross, both named 3rd Team ABCA/Rawlings All American...
Following the season, Siena was picked in the 14th round of the MLB Draft by the Mets where he chose to sign and play in the minors. After two seasons in the minors, the Mets released him...and then played in New Britain with the Independent League Bees in 2018 and 2019. Jim Penders once wondered if Vinny was having fun in his first two years with the Huskies. By year three, there was no doubt..Vinny enjoyed his teammates and they enjoyed him. Penders was very proud to see a guy work so hard and get rewarded as it always doesn't work that way...
Here's to a native Nutmegger and a Husky who started every game he ever played in a UConn Uniform....Vinny Siena, a Woodbridge Native a 2015 All American and a UConn Legend..