PRESQUE ISLE, ME

Head Baseball Coach Tim Burns has announced another recruit for the 2027 season.  Pitcher and corner infielder, Preston Collins of Islip, New York has committed to the Owls roster and will begin attending UMPI in the fall.

Collins attended high school at Bellport High School and also played a lot of summer ball over the last few years. On the mound he posted two seasons with a sub 1.80 ERA and promises to be a great addition to the Owls' pitching rotation that they are bent on improving.

For Collins, it was seeing a childhood idol play when he was young that sealed his goal of playing college ball. "I've been dreaming of playing college ball since I saw Clayton Kershaw pitch for the first time and I'm very happy I'm able to do so with this team. (I'm) Excited to get to work,"

His summer ball coach Joseph Murphey remarked on his attention to detail. "Preston is a dedicated ballplayer who diligently works to achieve his potential," Murphey said.

Coach Tim Burns weighed in, as he does all of his commits, on Preston planning to play for UMPI. "I'm very excited for Preston to join us. He is a great player with a great attitude, great mindset, is ambitious, and is ready to come help us compete right away and win more baseball games. He will help us immediately with our pitching staff, which is ever progressing. He can also swing it solid and play some first base. We're ready to have him get to work for us and show us how he impacts the program from the jump," Coach Burns said.

Collins will be studying Exercise Science beginning in the fall.