NH connection made: Bedford's O'Connell off to play for Wolfeboro's Corbin at Vanderbilt
Aug. 19—So why did Aiden O'Connell pick Vanderbilt University as the place where he will continue his education as well as his baseball career?
The short answer is the obvious one: Vanderbilt head coach Tim Corbin.
Corbin is a Wolfeboro native who graduated from Kingswood Regional High School in 1979. He has an 883-420-1 record at Vanderbilt and has guided the Commodores to two national championships (2014, 2019).
"Like a lot of kids, I was nervous to talk to Coach Corbin, but he's the opposite of that," O'Connell said. "He was so personable. I went out to two dinners with him and he was just so easy to talk to. He just connects with his kids on a whole other level.
"The school is about bringing in kids who are going to build as a team. Kids don't jump out of that school. They stay there. Their kids don't go into the portal (NCAA transfer portal)."
Corbin coached the Kingswood junior varsity baseball team in 1985 under current Kingswood varsity head coach Chip Skelley.
O'Connell, a left-handed pitcher, said he also seriously considered LSU, Virginia Tech, Duke and Kansas State before he selected Vanderbilt.
"I'm really thankful and grateful to have such a hard problem," O'Connell said. "It's tough to choose, but it's a good problem to have, so I was very thankful."
O'Connell originally committed to Northwestern, but never signed a national letter of intent. He reopened his recruitment when Northwestern dismissed head coach Jim Foster last month after allegations Foster engaged in bullying and abusive behavior during his only season as the program's head coach.
Vanderbilt extended an offer to O'Connell soon after Corbin watched him pitch during a game at St. Joseph's College in Maine.
"I still had a spot on the team (at Northwestern). I just decided to not go there," O'Connell said.
O'Connell was New Hampshire's Gatorade Player of the Year in 2023, when he went 5-2 with a 1.00 ERA. One of his losses was a 2-1 setback against top-seeded Londonderry in the Division I quarterfinals. He carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning of that game, which went nine innings.
O'Connell had 103 strikeouts and 20 walks in 55 2/3 innings during his senior season, when he limited opponents to eight earned runs. He also batted .457 with five home runs, 24 RBIs and 14 stolen bases.
O'Connell, who transferred to Bedford from Goffstown High School after his junior season, will spend a year at Avon Old Farms prep school in Avon, Connecticut, before he joins the Vanderbilt program.
"Coach Foster of Northwestern recommended it for me," O'Connell said. "He's good friends with Coach Dowling (Avon Old Farms coach Rob Dowling). That was the plan all along."
Outfielder Cal Hewett, a Greenland resident, will be entering his senior year with the Vanderbilt baseball team this fall. Hewett played at Portsmouth High School. Nashua South pitcher Grant McCubrey has also verbally committed to Vanderbilt. McCubrey is entering his junior year in high school.
O'Connell also led Bedford to the Division I basketball championship earlier this year.
