BOSTON – Every step he took down the baseline at Fenway Park, there was another group of fans yelling to get his attention. Whether they requested an autograph, a selfie or even just a photo of him posing, Dan Hurley obliged. One, a Yankee fan, made sure to thank him for staying in the region, turning down the Lakers, as he signed a T-shirt.It’s the life of the UConn head coach.“Till we lose,” Hurley said.The 2024-25 Huskies were introduced by a video mashup of NCAA tournament highlights that brought most of the crowd to its feet.Then Alex Karaban, the Southborough, Mass., native and only current Husky who started in each of the last two national title games, took to the mound. Karaban practiced over the weekend at UConn’s Elliot Ballpark with team managers and threw some more warmup pitches in front of the Red Sox dugout, but is still a baseball newbie and was worried about throwing a strike.“I didn’t like what I saw from him in his practice tosses in the Werth Center,” Hurley said before the pitch. “He said he’s been practicing but it didn’t look like it. It was bad. This could go anywhere.”Karaban wasn’t able to attend Fenway Park with the team last year, he was attending a camp in St. Louis run by Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum, when Donovan Clingan and Tristen Newton threw out first pitches. He did get to throw one before a Worcester Red Sox game that earned him a reputation for throwing soft. His standard this time was based on the wild first pitch ex-Purdue star Zach Edey, who he worked out with leading into the NBA Draft Combine, threw way out of the zone at a Chicago Cubs game in May.But Saturday’s first pitch was better than any of Karaban’s warmups. Red Sox first baseman and designated hitter Dominic Smith, not in the lineup Saturday, didn’t have to leave his crouch and barely moved his glove.Call it a strike.“This is probably going to be my favorite (stop on the celebration tour),” Karaban said prior to his toss. “The White House was cool (last year), going inside of it was something special, the parade is definitely up there, too. But my personal favorite is probably going to be the pitch today. As a Boston guy and a Red Sox guy, just being out in Fenway has definitely got to be my favorite thing.”The pressure was on for the hometown kid. In front of a packed house with all of his teammates and coaches lined up behind him – and, of course, his pitch was the one that began the second game of the rivalry series between the Red Sox and Yankees.But Karaban’s had a few homecomings in the last few months.He helped UConn to a pair of wins in TD Garden, beating San Diego State and Illinois by a combined 55 points in March to punch their ticket back to the Final Four. He also worked out for the Boston Celtics – and the Portland Trail Blazers – before withdrawing from the NBA Draft and announcing his return to UConn.“Sold out, Boston-New York rivalry, Hassan (Diarra’s) going to be chirping me in the background, he’s a Yankees guy. There’s a lot of factors that I can’t prepare for,” Karaban said.“He’s home, he’ll be in Boston so hopefully he doesn’t embarrass himself,” Diarra, a New York City native, said Thursday. “But I’m hoping he does, because I’m gonna be recording. I want to go viral.”Diarra ended up pumping his fist behind the mound and went to celebrate.
sekar nallalu College Sports,Cryptocurrency,Sports,uconn,UConn Mens Basketball UConn’s Alex Karaban throws a strike before Red Sox host Yankees at Fenway Park