Jimmy Allen helping the Blues stay hot

Jimmy Allen will be at home in San Luis Obispo this summer wtih the SLO Blues. By Owen Main

A little more than a week ago, after getting drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the 23rd round, Cal Poly third baseman Jimmy Allen was pondering his future.

His near future and his present are both now firmly planted in San Luis Obispo.

“It’s been kind of crazy,” said Allen after he notched two hits in a game Sunday evening for the SLO Blues. “I love this area and I love being in SLO. It’s a great college town and a degree really means a lot to me because ultimately I’ll be able to fall back on that. I don’t know how long baseball’s going to take in my life so I just wanted to come back especially for my senior year and go from there.”

Allen was sixth on the Cal Poly roster this season, hitting .299 with 15 extra base hits — a significant fall-off from the 2012 campaign when he hit .345 with 27 extra base hits.

“I struggled, but I think it was really good for me because my sophomore season I pretty much was hot the whole year and it kind of humbled me that it’s not that easy. The game is going to get you when you least expect it. I think it just showed that I can struggle but can come out and be the player I know I can be, especially during regionals,” said Allen.

In the NCAA Tournament regional, Allen collected eight hits in three games as he helped Cal Poly win its first-ever NCAA Tournament game.

Instead of being assigned to a low minor league team, Allen is now working on improving, playing for the Blues this summer.

Jimmy Allen follows through on one of his two hits during Sunday’s SLO Blues victory over the Bakersfield Sound. By Owen Main

“It’s tough,” he said. “You’ve got to get your lifts in in the morning but all you want to do is sleep. You get to the field at 1:00 for early hitting, but the game doesn’t get over ’til 9:00 and then you’re home at 10:00. You still have to eat. It’s all about time management and how bad you want to get better and how much you love the game.”

As a local on the team, Allen is a source of local knowledge for other Blues players, most of whom play their college baseball out of state.

“I’ve been here a week to the day, but a lot of guys have wanted to know things to do, places to eat, date ideas, sort of like that stuff, and I give them all my input so it’s fun.”

With Sunday’s win, the Blues are now 25-7 on the season.

Allen also said that closer Reed Reilly will forgo the professional ranks for one more season to return for his junior season.

In other news:

Cal Poly pitcher Matt Imhoff has been named to the Team USA 24-man roster. The team will play three exhibition games over the next few days and then go to Japan to play a 5-game series vs. the host country. There will also be a series with Cuba. Imhoff is the first Cal Poly player to be named to Team USA since the Mustangs moved to Division 1.

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