NEW MILFORD, Ct. - Owen Arias sees a lot of plusses in making a commitment to Central Connecticut State.

“It’s close to home, the coach has been around awhile, it’s a winning program, there’s in-state tuition and they play high-level baseball,” the eighth-rated 2023 catcher in Connecticut said of the Northeast Conference university. “Those were huge parts for me.”

The Canterbury High School senior first began talking with Central assistant coach Franklin Jennings, who is now a coach at Army.

“We were talking in the winter and he invited me to a camp,” Arias reflected. “Things died down with them in the summer but picked up in the fall when I played in front of them at a fall team event. I went and toured there the next week with (assistant) coach (Pat) Hall and (head) coach (Charlie) Hickey. They heard about me from coach Jennings and said they wanted to see me in person. I was offered a week after the tour and accepted a week after that.”

Pace and Eastern Connecticut State had also offered Arias, who had been extended a preferred walk-on from Bryant in addition to on-go talking with the likes of Seton Hall and Bucknell. But Arias found what he was looking for at Central Connecticut State, just an hour and 10 minutes from home.

“One thing that coach Hall talked about was they’re looking for defense in the catchers and leaders,” Arias pointed out. “They liked how I worked with pitchers along with my blocking and throwing. They also like what I can do with my bat.”

Interest in playing at the next level started when Arias joined Baseball U CT four years ago.

“I knew college baseball was the end goal at that time, but I didn’t know what level,” Arias explained. “I ended up reclassifying my junior year and that’s when I really got serious with it. I went from Milford to Canterbury last year and that’s when I started reaching out.

“It was definitely a long process,” Arias added. “My junior year at Milford I started talking to coaches and then last winter I had a lot of traction on Twitter and with emails. Last year I had my first visit with Bucknell and talked to a good amount of coaches. But Covid definitely impacted my recruitment along the way. Coaches were holding out because of the transfer portal, but it all worked out in the end.

“The numbers guaranteed with PBR were huge,” the 21st-ranked senior catcher in New England continued. “A coach said to me there’s so much BS out there with fake numbers, being able to go to PBR which is authentic was definitely helpful.”

An improved game also proved beneficial in becoming a D-I commit.

“The weight room has been huge for me,” the 5-11 185-pounder noted. “When I was younger I wasn’t that big, but with the weight room I’ve gotten stronger and added more speed which has allowed me to get to a better level as a player.”

Additionally, Arias gave credit to Pat Vigilio for playing a major role in his recruitment, “reaching out to as many schools as he could,” as well as Vin Carlucci, his hitting and catching coach, “who started working with me four years ago and helped me turn things around.”

The 145th-rated 2023 in New England is poised to make an impact in a program that has made three NCAA Tournament appearances in the past five seasons that were played under the direction of Hickey, who will begin his 25th year in charge of the program this coming spring.

“My goal as a catcher is to be the leader on the field, to work with the pitchers and lock it down defensively,” Arias said. “I want my pitcher to be fully confident. I want to be a pitcher’s best friend. I’ll do all that while I continue to work on my offense so I can provide that part of my game to the best of my abilities.”

A college commitment, admittedly, brought a sense of relief according to the 18-year-old.

“After two to three years of sending out emails and twitter posts and going to camps, it’s relieving,” the 49th-ranked Connecticut senior noted. “Going through an extra year of high school, it’s relieving to know it paid off in the end.”

A 4.4 student, Arias is looking at a major in finance at Central Connecticut State.

“I’ve always had an interest in that field,” Arias concluded. “Aside from that, I’m excited to build relationships with teammates and classmates. On the baseball side, I’m excited to be going to a winning program that always competes for the NCAA Tournament. I’m excited about that opportunity.”