By: Shannon Bickert

Two-year Schooner, Joél Collado, grew up in New London, Connecticut, hitting in the batting cage in his grandparents’ backyard. A few years later, Collado was named the starting designated hitter in the NECBL All-Star Game for the Mystic Schooners.

Collado’s baseball journey started with his father, who instilled the love of the game in him.

“We have a really good relationship; we talk about baseball all the time,” Collado said. “Him and I are very close, and baseball definitely brought us a lot closer.”

When baseball became more serious for Collado, he moved to East Lyme and found a travel program called Grind Baseball, which Collado attributes a lot of his early development to.

“They [the coaching staff at Grind] taught me how to be a man and approach college baseball,” Collado said. “They taught me the ins and outs and how to go about my business if I want to play at a high level. They’ve developed me a ton, and I would consider them a second family. I’m so thankful for that because I don’t think my career would be the same if it wasn’t for them.”

Collado stayed in Connecticut until his senior year of high school, before moving down to Florida and playing a season at Olympia High School.

Collado landed at Alabama State for his first season of college ball before entering the transfer portal. He decided to return to New England and play at the University of Rhode Island after his freshman year.

Collado started last summer in the Florida Collegiate League, before connecting with the Schooners for the end of the NECBL season. Collado finished the summer back in Connecticut.

Collado spent about two weeks in Mystic last summer. In 10 at-bats, he recorded two hits.

Collado returned to Mystic this season, originally on a temporary contract. Collado went on to earn an extension for a full summer.

This season, Collado was excited to return to the Shipyard and soak in the knowledge from his teammates.

“The guys on the Schooners are incredible,” Collado said. “It’s awesome learning from the guys too that come from some bigger schools. You play with these guys, and you learn so much.”

Collado has put together a stellar summer, averaging .276, ripping three home runs, while maintaining a .938 OPS. These stats earned him the role as the starting DH in the NECBL All-Star Game.

“It means everything,” Collado said. “I’ve worked so hard to be in that situation. I definitely didn’t expect starting in the All-Star Game, but it’s definitely a huge achievement.”