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Baseball
SOPHOMORE SEASON (2009): Strongarmed catcher who could be key to Notre Dame's control of the running game ... his strong all-around defensive skills include good footwork around the plate ... a developing offensive force who can provide some power to the lineup ... great athlete who should be able to build on his 6-1, 205-pound frame ... started two games for the Gold squad at catcher during the 2008 Blue- Gold World Series ... batted .200 (1-for-5) with a run scored ... spent the 2008 summer with the Delaware Cows of the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League ... started all 13 games in which he appeared ... batted .267 with three doubles and four RBI ... threw out seven base stealers in 21 stolen base attempts ... committed only two errors in 82 fielding chances, recording a .976 fielding percentage ... was not charged with a passed ball the entire summer. FRESHMAN SEASON (2008): His lone hit in the 2007 Blue-Gold World Series was a leadoff home run down the left-field line, helping the Blue win game-1, 8-1 ... finished the fall series 1- for-10, with two RBI and a sacrifice fly ... saw action in 15 games, including 10 starts ... each of the 10 starts came at catcher ... hit in the eighth spot in all 10 starts ... Notre Dame was 8-2 when he started at catcher ... batted .200 with two doubles and three RBI ... added six runs scored and a walk ... recorded one multi-hit game, including a two-hit affair ... recorded a personalbest two-game hitting streak ... committed only one error in 71 fielding chances to post a .986 fielding percentage ... threw out just one base stealer in 11 stolen base attempts ... was charged with two passed balls ... went hitless in nine at-bats in BIG EAST action ... did not see any action in either of the first two games of the Irish season, but pinch hit against Albany (Feb. 24) ... registered his first career start against St. Bonaventure on March 2 ... went 1-for-3 with a RBI single ... made next start against South Alabama on March 8 ... went 1-for-3 with an RBI and added a run scored ... started for the second consecutive day against top-ranked Arizona on March 9 (went 0-for-2) ... registered his first and only multi-hit game of his career against Wisconsin- Milwaukee on March 26 ... went 2-for-3 with a pair of singles, RBI and run scored ... went 1-for-2 with two runs scored and a double in his start against Chicago State on Apr. 22 ... went 1-for-3 with two runs scored against Mississippi Valley State on Apr. 30. PREP & PERSONAL: Named defensive MVP as a senior on the 2007 Deerfield High School baseball team, when he also tied the school record for home runs in a season (seven) ... threeyear baseball letterwinner ... earned all-conference honors as a junior on conference championship team, after batting .326 with 34 RBI (four HR, two 3B, seven SB) ... hit .435 as a sophomore (seven RBI, 10 R, four 2B, three SB) ... played 2007 summer baseball with Top Tier team that advanced to Connie Mack World Series in Farmington, N.M. ... hit .500 with six RBI, a home run, a walk and a pair of sacrifice bunts in four games at the CMWS (Top Tier finished fifth) ... member of two state-title teams with Top Tier (`06 and `07) ... participated in `05 and `06 tryouts for the Area Code Games ... selected as one of the players to represent the Central Suburban League Conference at the Stevenson Showcase ... also selected to play in 2006 Jack Kaiser All-Star game but was unable to participate due to WWBA 18U World Series that was being held in East Cobb ... similarly was unable to play with Team Illinois at Harvey Foster's exposure event due to the East Cobb tournament ... selected to play in the "Super 60" Showcase ... was rated by Baseball America as #34 overall prospect in 2007 for the state of Illinois (16th among prep players) ... also was tabbed the best defensive catcher in Illinois by the Prep Baseball Report, which rated him the secondbest overall catcher and #15 top overall prospect in the state ... joined sophomore infielder Mick Doyle (LaFrange Park/Benet Academy) as two of five Illinois natives on 2009 Irish roster ... the Notre Dame baseball program has featured 146 previous monogram winners from Illinois, including 1964 All- America shortstop Rich Gonski (Chicago) and recent standouts such as 1B/C Mike Amrhein, CF Randall Brooks, LHP Tim Kalita, RHP Ryan Kalita, catcher Bob Lisanti, RHP Peter Ogilvie, SS Alec Porzel and RHP Darin Schmalz ... previous Notre Dame players to wear #28 include late-'80s catcher Ed Lund ... could face several former teammates in `09 season: Villanova's Dain Hall (Top Tier),Valparaiso's Steve Godowa (Top Tier), Ohio State's Cory Kovanda (Delaware Cows) and Ryan Meade (Delaware Cows) and Cincinnati's Jake Geglein (Delaware Cows), Jamel Scott (Delaware Cows) and Justin Riddell (Delaware Cows) ... played on freshman basketball team at DHS, where he also was a WERCS writing and English tutor, and member of both the student congress debate team and the chess club ... received good citizen award from Optimist Club ... son of Debra Drue Wax ... son of Cameron Charles McConnell ... born Feb. 18, 1989, in Bannockburn, Ill. ... recorded a 3.231 grade point average in the '08 spring term ... major is undecided. McConnell's Career Statistics
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