Eastern Connecticut State University

Additional biography

A veteran of over 60 years of coaching, Andy Baylock returns to the program for the ninth year, serving as a volunteer assistant coach and special advisor to head coach Mike Odenwaelder.

Coach Baylock is the former head coach at the University of Connecticut, where he was elevated from assistant to head coach after 15 seasons to replace Larry Panciera. He served in that capacity for 24 years – winning 556 games before stepping down after the 2003 season.

Throughout his life he has put his vast knowledge of the game of baseball to good use, helping coach and educate players at all levels. In both 1985 and 1989, he served as a pitching coach for the U.S. Senior National Teams. He also spent summers as a coach in the prestigious Cape Cod Baseball League, where he worked directly with some of the nation’s top talent in baseball. Most recently, he served as a batting practice pitcher for the Connecticut Tigers, a Detroit Tigers’ minor league affiliate located in Norwich.

Over the years, Baylock has been honored by numerous organizations, including his January 1996 induction into the ABCA Hall of Fame. A member of eight Halls of Fame, Baylock has been selected as the 2011 recipient of the ABCA/Wilson Lefty Gomez Award, the highest honor given out by the organization and will receive that award at the group's annual convention.

In 2017, Baylock was elected to the inaugural class of the New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association (NEIBA) Hall of Fame. Each year since 1978, the Andy Baylock Distinguished Service Award is presented by NEIBA to an individual who has "significantly contributed to the betterment of New England college baseball."  A recent recipient of the award in 2021 was former Eastern softball player Kelly Rodman, who succumbed to cancer in 2020 at the age of 44 while having served as a scout with the New York Yankees since 2014.

In 1987, Baylock won NEIBA's Jack Butterfield Award, which is given for dedication to collegiate baseball. In 2002, the association presented the veteran skipper with the Outstanding Contribution to New England Baseball Award. In 1985, he was awarded the Gold Key from the Connecticut Sportswriters' Alliance for his many years of service to Connecticut athletics.

Even though he has had a long and successful career in baseball, his talents have not been restricted to just one sport. A New Britain native, Baylock attended Central Connecticut State University, where he was a four-year letterwinner in baseball and football and captained both teams. He went on to play three seasons of professional football in the Atlantic Coast Professional Football League. After graduating from Central, he coached football at East Catholic High School in the early 1960s, and later spent time as the freshman football coach at UConn.

A catcher on New Britain High School’s 1955 state championship team, Baylock earned his Master’s Degree from the University of Michigan, where he served as a graduate assistant with the baseball and football teams.

Since 2002, Baylock has served as the Director of Football Alumni and Community Affairs at UConn. He additionally holds the position of Vice President of the Greater Hartford Twilight Baseball League – where he spent his college summers playing.