Storrs — Christian Fedko embodies everything that the UConn baseball program is all about.

He has an unselfish, team-first mentality.

He's a caring teammate and inspirational team leader.

And he embraces his role, no matter what it is.

"He's been an amazing captain, one of the best that we've ever had," coach Jim Penders said. "And it's difficult to do when you're not playing every day. But he has not wavered one bit with his leadership. He's just been fantastic. I'm very proud of him.

"It's one of the highlights of the season for me to look at a guy like that and say, all right, there must be something right with the culture if he's continuing to do what he does. Mostly, it's what is right with Christian Fedko and the Fedko family."

Fedko, a senior infielder from Gibsonia, Pa., also is a winner.

He's the first UConn baseball player in Penders' 19 years in charge in Storrs to be a part of four NCAA tournament teams. The Huskies (46-13) open College Park (Md.) regional play at 1 p.m. Friday against Wake Forest (40-17-1). Maryland (45-12) and Long Island University (37-19) also are in the four-team region.

"That's honestly pretty cool," Fedko said after the NCAA Championship Selection Show on Monday. "I know a lot of guys who maybe went to one regional or two regionals. To be able to say I went to four, it's pretty special. ... I take pride in that."

On Friday, Fedko will be on the bench.

Quite a change from last year when Fedko was a regular presence in the starting lineup mainly at second base, batted .295, led the Big East in doubles and earned a spot on the South Bend Regional all-tournament team. Two years ago, he was a Cape Cod League all-star.

This season, Fedko has played a supporting role after losing his starting job to David Smith. He has career lows for games (29), starts (16), at-bats (59) and batting average (.186). That's after starting 50 or more games in each of the previous three full seasons.

"For whatever reason, he just hasn't hit in the last year," Penders said, "but it hasn't changed who he is. It's got to be hard, too, because his brother (Kyler) had tremendous success and has gone on to having even more success in minor league baseball and is on the track to the major leagues.

"Christian is a major league person. He's going to be successful in whatever he winds up doing. He's expressed some interest in coaching and he'd be a tremendous, tremendous coach."

As a competitor, Fedko admits his reduced role has been an adjustment. He continues to work hard and believes he can help the team.

He's kept a positive attitude and supported his teammates.

"It's honestly been a blessing to be able to be an example for the guys to see when you go through a little bit of adversity to keep a smile on your face and be a leader at the same time, no matter what's going on," Fedko said. "I've embraced it and I just always stay ready to go at the same time, working as hard as I can without playing much."

"... As a competitive kid, obviously you want to be out there playing knowing you can contribute to the team. At the same time, it's so fun to see other guys succeed and to see the team win. That's ultimately the main goal of sports in general is to see the team win. So, to see that, it hasn't been as frustrating. But some days have been hard and some days have been easier than others. But, all in all, we're in the tournament and we're winning so I can't really complain."

Fedko has been "a special guy" since arriving on campus as a freshman, according to Penders.

Penders says he's never seen Fedko have a bad day.

"He stays consistent," Penders said. "I'm sure this has been really hard, but I haven't been able to tell. And we've had a couple heart-to-hearts in the office, and those have been positive, too. You can have a real conversation with him. I think he gets it. I pray he knows how much I love him. Because if it were personal, he'd be in the lineup every day because that's how much I think of him."

Fedko also is well-liked and well-respected by his teammates.

He has a magnetic personality and brings people together.

Nobody loves being part of a team more than Fedko, according to Penders.

"When you think of a leader, that's who you see," redshirt sophomore Kevin Ferrer of Stonington said. "He embodies everything. No matter what, he's always 72 degrees and sunny. He picks everybody up and never has a bad attitude. I have the utmost respect for him."

Penders has a feeling that Fedko will do something special during UConn's NCAA tournament run.

"I have confidence, and I'm saying this with goosebumps, he's going to get a big hit in the coming weeks," Penders said."Something is going to happen where he's going to need to be counted on in the batter's box and he's going to deliver, because he usually does in clutch spots."

Fedko, who's appeared in 208 career games at UConn and owns a career .266 batting average, hopes to end his career playing in the College World Series. The Big East champion Huskies have the talent to reach that destination.

"It's been a great ride, no matter what my role has been," Fedko said. "Being a great leader is something that I take pride in. That's probably why I got voted captain.

"That's exactly what the program is about. No matter what your role is, just do it to the best of your ability. Whatever you give to the program, it's going to give you 100 percent back. Guys on the bench, they see how we react, it helps the whole team."

g.keefe@theday.com