University of Connecticut baseball coach Jim Penders can still recall the image: Nick Ahmed, then a teenager – then, as now, all arms and legs – taking the throw to second and slapping down a tag between innings. Penders sounds surprised he noticed it then but not that he still remembers it today.
“You’re in the dugout, you’re paying attention, but you’re not necessarily going to notice something like that between innings,” Penders said. “But he did it so fast and with such diligence – the attention to detail was evident – your eyes were naturally drawn to follow him the rest of the camp session.