Winding Road Leads Bennett To UMass-Lowell

Blake Bennett RHP / RHP / Amesbury, MA / 2019

AMESBURY, Ma. - It has been an uneven two years to say the least for Blake Bennett.

There was a position change and a college commitment. There was post-graduate consideration before a decommitment.

Before all was said and done, the Amesbury senior is going to college 30 minutes from home at Massachusetts-Lowell.

“I’ve been talking to Lowell since the day I decommitted,” explained Bennett. “My sister goes there and when I went on a visit it was way bigger than I thought. I committed that day. I really liked the engineering building and the way it was set up. With baseball, I really liked coach (Ken) Harring.”

While not far from home, the road to Lowell was winding for sure.

It started two years ago when a hockey injury led Bennett toward a new position in baseball.

“I was a catcher but I tore my meniscus in hockey and I couldn’t squad for more than 30 seconds,” the 6-3 210-pounder explained.

That led Bennett to try pitching.

“The first time I pitched we were playing a team that wasn’t too good and I basically walked the park,” Bennett said about a 31/3 inning outing in which he fanned nine but walked eight.”

It was a learning experience for the raw pitcher.

“I learned you need to throw the ball over and let them hit it,” Bennett said with a laugh.

The 21st-rated 2019 in New England has not only developed control since first becoming a pitcher, but has added much more to his game.

“It’s been crazy,” Bennett noted. “I have way more command now than I had when I first started. My velo is up 14 miles an hour since my junior year and my curve is also really really good now.”

Interest was there even prior to the improvement, and a commitment to Army took place in June of 2018.