Collin Mahoney doesn’t have many fond memories from last year.
The former Mount St. Michael catcher had begun his sophomore season at Clemson as the starting catcher, but lost his spot and spent most of his time on the bench. Mahoney, who was talked about as a possible high draft pick coming out of high school, was seeing his career quickly go the wrong way.
“That was rock-bottom,” Mahoney said. “It was one of the toughest years of my life. I didn’t know where I was going or what was in my future.”
No one could have known. One day last year, Mahoney was fooling around with a teammate to see how hard they could throw, when pitching coach Kevin O’Sullivan walked by. “We were messing around with the [radar] gun and we thought we might get in trouble,” Mahoney said. “But then he saw how hard I was throwing.”
Mahoney threw 94 mph with his first pitch and has hit 100. What started out as a goof could land him a spot as a closer in the majors. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” O’Sullivan said. “He had a strong arm, but we didn’t see this coming.”
Several teams have shown interest in the 6-4 righthander and he is expected to be taken no later than the “sandwich round” of next month’s baseball draft between the first and second rounds for teams that are awarded picks for trades and free agents.
One of those teams is the Yankees, who have four picks in the top 50. Gordon Blakeley, the team’s senior VP of player personnel, has seen him personally.
“Collin grew up a huge Yankee fan,” said his father, Bernie, who coached him at Mount. “That would be terrific.”
Regardless of where he winds up, Mahoney’s transformation will be incredible. Following his impromptu tryout, he expected to work on his mechanics playing in the Cape Cod League over the summer and then split time between pitcher and catcher as a junior. But mononucleosis cut short his season and he thought he would stay behind the plate.
“I wanted to prove last year was a fluke and that I could still be a good catcher,” Mahoney said. “I was hoping I could work my butt off to get my job back and get drafted somewhere low and start from there.”
Instead, despite having thrown only 17 2/3 innings at Clemson and being smacked around for a 7.13 ERA, Mahoney is one of the hottest commodities in the collegiate ranks. “You don’t pass up an arm like that,” said one scout.
His father did. Bernie Mahoney saw his son’s arm strength, but he also saw his ability to catch a game, as well as hit the ball a mile. “When I did put him on the mound, he didn’t know where he was throwing it,” Mahoney said. “I thought he was going to kill somebody.”
But with the help of O’Sullivan, as well as former major leaguer Bryan Harvey – whose son plays at Clemson – Mahoney has developed into a pitcher.
“Everything has happened so fast,” Mahoney said. “Before this season, I wasn’t even a blip on anyone’s radar screen. But those difficult days are helping me now, so I wouldn’t change anything.”