John Susi had seen something like this before -- in a movie.

On the other hand, there's a part of it he'd never encountered.

September, 2007. The Western Connecticut State University head baseball coach was on the mound, pitching batting practice during fall tryouts to a prospect that he knew little about. If nothing else, Susi had an appreciation for Jon Conlon's persistence. Conlon, who played high school ball at Thomaston, badgered Susi with e-mails for more than a year about joining the Colonials.

One thing readily apparent to Susi, as he looked into the batting cage that day, was that Conlon -- at a strapping 6-foot-1, 225 pounds -- was built like the kind of Marine featured on magazine and billboard posters.

That's fitting, since Conlon, in fact, is a Marine; but more about that later.

The question on this day was what could Conlon do with the bat? Susi had heard from some of the Colonials who played summer ball with him that the big kid was worth a look. While a b......