Latrobe's Jared Kollar an asset for Rutgers after leaving Seton Hill

There it was, seemingly jumping off the page.

Nestled among the names of a majority of players hailing from Rutgers’ home state of New Jersey (25) and neighboring New York (eight), was the reference to former Seton Hill and Latrobe pitcher Jared Kollar on the Big Ten school’s baseball roster for the 2022 season.

And to Rutgers coach Steve Owens, the New Jersey/New York corridor is an area fertile with high school prospects.

“We’ll go outside if we feel we’re getting a good player,” said Owens, who spent the previous nine seasons as coach at Bryant, the Rhode Island-based, Northeast Conference baseball power, before taking over at Rutgers in 2019.

Owens, an Upstate New York native, ranks among the top 15 active Division I coaches in victories (941) and winning percentage (.646). His teams have made 13 NCAA Tournament appearances combined in Divisions I, II and III.

“He’s pretty much all business,” Kollar said. “I consider myself a good pitcher, but I doubt that means too much to the coaching staff here because you’ve got to go out and perform. I had a lot of good opportunities to hone my skills at Seton Hill, but it’s been a transition to Division I. It’s already teaching me that you have to be a little more precise with your pitches.”

With the season just five games old, Rutgers was 4-1 heading into a scheduled nonconference game Tuesday at St. Joseph’s. Kollar earned his first Division I victory Saturday with a five-inning outing during Rutgers’ 12-5 win at UNC-Wilmington.

The 23-year-old graduate student right-hander gave up two earned runs on four hits with no walks and three strikeouts. He left after the fifth inning with the Scarlet Knights leading 8-2.

It was Kollar’s second appearance of the season. His first Division I outing came Feb. 19 in an 18-3 victory at Houston Baptist, when he threw 71 pitches over four-plus innings, giving up three earned runs on six hits with two walks and six strikeouts.

“He’s starting for now,” Owens said, “but we really don’t know how things will play out across the board. He’s been great. He works hard. He’s got four good pitches, and he’s a smart kid.”

Kollar has been hitting the low-90s and has impressed Owens and Rutgers pitching coach Brendan Monaghan with his savvy appearance on the mound.

“He fields well and has really good control,” Owens said. “He just knows what he’s doing. The difference-maker for him is that ‘12-6’ breaking pitch that he has. That’s an elite pitch. You never know, he could be a great 3-inning guy through the week.

“We found out about Jared. Our guys knew him and said, ‘Whoa, that’s a good breaking ball.’ We did our research, and we looked at his summer body of work (Kollar played a year in the Coastal Plains League wood-bat summer circuit) and said, ‘Let’s go get him.’ ”

So, Kollar became the second-most western-based player to join the Scarlet Knights this season.

The roster was finalized with the large East Coast contingent that also includes a couple of Massachusetts products and one each from Delaware and, oddly enough, California, leaving just two remaining players from Pennsylvania — Kollar and redshirt junior Nate McLain, a fellow right-hander, from North Pocono High in District 2.

At Division II Seton Hill, which is ranked No. 9 with a 4-1 start following a year in which the Griffins won the 2021 NCAA Atlantic Region championship, Kollar compiled a 17-7 record with a 3.05 ERA in 36 career games.

“You can’t argue with his track record,” Seton Hill coach Marc Marizzaldi said. “He’s never really been a hard thrower, like a lot of guys, but he’s got great stuff. The only thing that may work against him is his age. Compared to a young, high school kid, he’s a lot older.”

Left-hander Patrick Monteverde, another former Seton Hill pitcher and a Fox Chapel product, transferred to Texas Tech in 2021 and posted a 7-4 record with a 3.75 ERA in 86.1 innings.

He was taken in the eighth round of the 2021 MLB Draft by the Miami Marlins and pitched in seven games with two saves for their Florida rookie league team.

“It’s really cool that we’ve been able to prepare some guys for the next level,” Marizzaldi said.

Two other Seton Hill players from last season — outfielder Derek Orndorff (Liberty), a Connellsville product, and left-hander Peyton Reesman (Radford) — also have transferred to Division I schools.

Orndorff was leading Liberty in batting average (.474) and home runs (5) through six games, and Reesman, in two appearances for Radford, was 0-1 with a 3.38 ERA and 11 strikeouts in eight innings.

Kollar preceded his college career with a strong high school showing that saw Latrobe capture WPIAL and PIAA championships during his senior season in 2018 with Kollar earning victories in both title games.

He graduated from Seton Hill with a bachelor’s degree in actuarial and mathematical sciences and a minor in science, and he said he chose Rutgers as a transfer destination after a failed plan to attend Penn State forced him to seek another school.

“Once I entered the transfer portal, I ended up getting 40 emails from D-I to junior college,” Kollar said. “When Penn State fell through, I needed a backup plan.”

Rutgers called and Kollar obliged, setting his sights on engineering classes while hoping to make the jump on the diamond.

While he’s still playing ball, he’s given up on the engineering scene.

“I didn’t like it,” Kollar said. “I just couldn’t see myself doing it. So, I tried finance, but I missed the starting point for a master’s in finance and I ended up in supply chain management. I like the business aspect of it. Most of the stuff is forecasting future demand.”

For Kollar, the future very well could hold him in demand, starting with a Big Ten schedule that features three teams — Maryland, Michigan and Nebraska — flirting with the national polls. He’s warming up to it with some favorable outings in early-season, nonconference games.

“Since coming to Rutgers, I see a lot more of the scouts and they’ve basically told me if I have a good year, they’ll take me,” he said.

According to Kollar, the Minnesota Twins, Philadelphia Phillies and San Diego Padres have shown the most interest.

“We’re really happy for Jared,” Owens said. “He’s done everything right so far. We’re hoping he has the same success in the Big Ten as his prior four years. He has a chance (to be drafted) as a reliever. He’s going to be a factor.”