The university continues to make ties with the Toronto Blue Jays as two former Screaming Eagles received calls from the major league organization this past summer.

USI utility player Jonathon Wandling signed a free agent contract with the organization June 11, after leading the Eagles to a national title two weeks earlier.

The following day, former USI infielder Darin Mastroianni was recalled to the majors by the Blue Jays after six weeks with the team’s Triple-A affiliate, the Buffalo Bisons.

Wandling soars towards Blue Jays contract

With a Division II national championship and a minor league contract under his belt, former USI pitcher Jonathon Wandling capped off his summer by clinching the North Division Championship with the Vancouver Canadians in August.

He and the team advanced to the Championship Series in September, where they came in second – a “really cool experience,” Wandling said.

“(I) got my first postseason champagne shower in the locker room after we clinched for the playoffs,” he said. “So that was a very cool experience.”

Wandling’s baseball career began around the age of five when he and his father decided to play a game of catch in their backyard in Evansville.

“I started playing baseball ever since I can remember,” he said.

Wandling said his father was one of the biggest influences on his baseball career.

“He was always willing to help me in any way possible,” he said. “(He was) always there for me to throw to or for him to throw to me so I could hit.”

Weekdays at the Wandling house were spent in the backyard, where Wandling would work on either throwing or hitting.

“Sometimes we would bicker at each other,” Wandling said. “Either I wanted to be done and he wouldn’t let me, or he needed to go back into work and I didn’t want to stop throwing or hitting.”

Wandling spent weekends with his little league travel team.

Come Monday, the cycle started all over again.

“I think that was another reason why I fell in love with baseball – because it was all I was thinking or doing,” Wandling said. “Not one point in my life have I ever been like, ‘Geez, I’m burnt out on baseball.’ I’m always wanting more and I can’t get enough.”

So Wandling stuck with the game – even while playing other sports as he got older.

“My senior year in high school, I had a very good football and baseball season. It was very tough for me to choose which sport I truly wanted to continue playing,” he said.

After receiving offers from colleges for both baseball and football, he decided on Kentucky Wesleyan.

“I couldn’t decide (on which sport to play) and they wanted me to play both sports over there,” he said.

While at Wesleyan, he played football for two years, but continued to play baseball. He gave up football because he was getting looks from the MLB after his sophomore year.

It was also after his sophomore season that Wandling thought, “Let’s give (baseball) everything I have for two more years and see where it takes me,” he said.

Wandling described the following season as “terrible.” He was able to get a free leave from Wesleyan because the school was changing conferences.

“I needed a change,” he said. “So I transferred to USI and never looked back.”

Going into the 2014 MLB amateur draft, Wandling knew the Philadelphia Phillies and the Toronto Blue Jays were the two most likely teams to draft him.

“Disappointingly, I didn’t get the call for the draft,” he said. “But literally five minutes after the draft ended, the Blue Jays scout, who had seen me play all year, called me and the first thing he said was, ‘You have a job.’”

At first, Wandling was unsure about the call and checked the number on his phone to make sure it wasn’t someone prank calling him.

“Then I said, ‘Wait, what?’ And he said, ‘You have a job. The Toronto Blue Jays want you and want you to sign a free agent contract and start playing right away,’” Wandling said. “It was pretty unreal – and still is – but (I’m) very blessed and grateful for the opportunity.”

After signing a minor league contract with the Blue Jays, Wandling was sent to a mini camp at their minor league’s spring training facility in Dunedin, Florida, for conditioning.

“Conditioning (for the minors) is 100 times harder than at USI,” he said. “First, it is hard to breathe down here with this heat. Secondly, it is stuff to build you up – so it was a lot of running at first. Our USI practices are ran similar to a pro system but a little less strict and speed isn’t as quick.”

Once the mini camp ended, Wandling was placed on one of the two GCL (Gulf Coast League) rookie ball teams in Dunedin and was assigned to the GCL Blue Jays.

After starting out playing rookie ball for the GCL Blue Jays, Wandling was sent up to the Dunedin Blue Jays, a High-A team.

Three weeks after being sent up, he was sent to the Class-A Short Season Vancouver Canadians, the Northwest League affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays.

It was his time with the Screaming Eagles, however, that helped prepare him for the minors, and none of it would have happened if it weren’t for his parents.

“I would first want to thank my parents because they supported me 100 percent on me wanting to transfer to USI. If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t (have) been a Screaming Eagle,” he said. “They go above and beyond for me and I couldn’t thank them enough.”

Playing for USI helped prepare Wandling for the minors in more than one way.

“First, I became a true pitcher. Before coming to USI, I was just a thrower,” he said.

Wandling said he would try to throw as hard as he could, instead of hitting spots and making pitches. He attributes coach Jeremy Kuester with helping him refine his pitches.

“I was able to pretty much throw any pitch in any count for a strike and he worked with me all fall to prepare myself for a really good season in the spring and, again, I couldn’t thank him enough,” Wandling said.

Another thing Wandling said helped prepare him for the minors was head coach Tracy Archuleta’s lack of compliments.

“Honest to God, he never gave me a compliment all season, and at times I got frustrated because we all like hearing your coaches say, ‘Good job,’ ‘Way to play today.’ And not once did he because he knew I had more in the tank. He knew I could continue to get better and he didn’t want me getting satisfied and staying the same,” Wandling said. “This was a huge thing for me because every game, that was one more thing that motivated me to go out and dominate, which helped me become the player I am.”

Wandling also credits his teammates for helping prepare him for the next stage in his career.

“They all showed me how to feed off one another – how to make sure you aren’t just playing for yourself, but you are playing for your university and your brothers and your teammates,” he said. “Every single one of those guys came out hungry and worked their butts off every single practice – even if they weren’t every day starters. Not one person was complaining about having practice or didn’t want to be there.”

It’s this kind of mentality that not only helped Wandling in the long run, but lead to a national championship.

“Not going to lie, it is a grind,” Wandling said. “Our coaching staff (at USI) is tough and strict and they demand a lot out of you, and at times you have to have a tough skin or you aren’t going to make it. That is why USI is very good every year – because the coaches set the tone and expected us to follow their lead.”

Wandling, first team All-Region and All-Great Lakes Valley Conference, set the Eagles’ single-season record for strikeouts last season with 84. He was also named honorable mention All-American by Daktronics and the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional Most Valuable Player and All-Tournament. He struck out a season-high 10 batters against Tiffin University and also made an impact at the plate hitting .314 and 11 stolen bases in 2014.

With his experiences with the Screaming Eagles in his back pocket, Wandling plans to continue building his life and career around the game.

“This is a dream of mine and it has come true. Now I am trying to take advantage of it. I would love to keep playing this game as long as I can,” he said. “I am able to do something I truly love with all my heart.”

He said he hopes to eventually be in a position where he can give back and help youth, whether it be through camps or a different project altogether.

Until then, Wandling doesn’t plan on slowing down and continues to play the game he loves.

“For now, I am going to keep going out on the mound and giving everything I have,” he said. “And make sure they say, ‘Wow, we gotta keep this guy in the rotation,’ or, ‘This is the guy we need coming out of the bullpen to shut it down.”

Mastroianni recalled, flies home to Blue Jays

Darin Mastroianni hit .323 in 2006 during his sophomore year and was named USI’s top hitter and lead-off batter. The following season, he batted .409 for the Eagles and set a school record of 97 hits and 64 stolen bases.

After leading the Screaming Eagles to their first NCAA Division II regional championship and securing a third-place finish in the Division II World Series, the former All-American second baseman was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 16th round of the 2007 MLB amateur draft.

In August 2011, Mastroianni was called up to the major leagues by the Blue Jays. He finished the season but was designated for assignment before the 2012 season began. He was claimed off waivers by the Minnesota Twins, and was designated for assignment again in April.

He was claimed off waivers by the Blue Jays on April 22, and was assigned to the Buffalo Bisons, the Triple-A affiliate of the Blue Jays, and was recalled to the majors on June 12.

Mastroianni is the third Screaming Eagle to play in the majors and the first since catcher Kevin Brown’s 1996 debut with the Texas Rangers.

First Eagle to fly to Toronto

Former USI catcher Kevin Brown was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the 2nd round of the 1994 amateur draft. He was later traded to the Blue Jays in 1998, two years after his MLB debut. In doing so, Brown began the barely-there tradition of Screaming Eagles signing with the Blue Jays.

While playing for the Screaming Eagles, Brown set the USI single-season batting average record in 1993 with .442. Overall, he ranks second in home runs and slugging percentage, third in batting average and total bases, fourth in RBIs, and is regarded as one of the best catchers to ever play for USI.

Brown is a member of the USI Hall of Fame.

Former pitcher almost Blue Jay

Former USI pitcher Taylor Dennis was named Most Outstanding Player during the NCAA Division II Championship Series in 2010.

He told the Evansville Courier & Press that he had been in talks with a couple of teams before the 2011 draft and that the Blue Jays had sent him a text. After thinking he would end up playing for Toronto, Dennis was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the 34th round of the 2011 MLB amateur draft.

After a season with the Arizona League Rangers, Dennis moved up to the Spokane Indians (A-) and then the Hickory Crawdads (A). In 2013, he was promoted to the Myrtle Beach Pelicans (A+).

On April 23, Dennis, an Evansville native, signed with the Evansville Otters and returned home for the 2014 season.