The UConn closer tradition: Wallace latest Husky to make jump to pros

UConn's Jacob Wallace was traded to the Red Sox this summer. (Stephen Slade/UConn Athletics)

From walk-ons turned regulars and impact transfers to postseason heroes and Major League Baseball players, Jim Penders has developed his fair share of success stories during his time in the University of Connecticut dugout.

The Huskies have only played a partial season -- due to COVID-19, of course -- since Jacob Wallace left campus to pursue his professional dreams with the Colorado Rockies in June of 2019. But the Methuen, Mass., native is already one of those success stories, continuing an outstanding pitching legacy from Storrs to affiliated ball.

A stellar debut in the short-season Northwest League last summer marked the first step of the righty’s pro journey, one that is set to continue with his hometown Boston Red Sox once Minor League Baseball’s pandemic pause is over.

After being traded last month, Wallace donned a Sox uniform for the first time during the organization’s Fall Instructional Camp earlier this month in Fort Myers, Fla. That news has those who know him best, and plenty of folks in Husky blue, still smiling.