Dan Badgley could not stand the fact he went from a sure Major League Baseball draftee to not being drafted at all.

The fact that he did not get drafted last season has added fuel to the fire this season in his quest to be the best pitcher in the Mid-American Conference.

The senior pitcher was believed to be drafted in the mid-teens in the MLB draft in June. But teams were afraid of the arm problems Badgley was experiencing.

“[The arm problems] might have hurt me,” Badgley said. “I can’t say how disappointed I was. I had a great start at the beginning of the season, but I slowed down at the end. I worked a lot of innings last year, and my arm wasn’t ready for it. I felt that I was going to get drafted. The coaches were talking a lot about it. But I learned something from it — I can only worry about the things that I can control.”

Coach Dave Schrage was so certain that Badgley was going to be drafted after last season that he went into the recruiting period looking mainly for pitchers. Six pitchers signed with the Huskies last season.

“We got lucky,” Schrage said. “It means a lot to us. Not only getting him, but [Brad] Gavelek and [Brian] Miller and Badgley back is big. We recruited with the idea that we were going to lose two of the three. They were the bulk of our staff last year. All three of those guys are going to get the ball a lot. But Badgley is our leader, and he relishes that role.”

Badgley, who was voted as one of the team captains, does not see his arm troubles to be a problem this season. Even though the MAC switched to a four-game, three-day schedule from the usual double-headers on Saturday and Sunday, Badgley thinks that could work to his favor.

The 6-foot-5-inch senior finished last season 4-7, on a 5-game losing skid, but finished with a team-high 61 strikeouts. Badgley credited that to the Huskies not being used to winning — the Huskies finished 4-51 the year before — and it showed at the end of the season.

Badgley does not want the same thing to happen this season. To fix the mistakes, the Roselle native changed his arm swing and added the slider to his arsenal, with the help of new pitching coach Luke Sabera.

“He’s always been a really hard thrower,” Sabera said. “Badgley put in a great offseason. We are pretty happy with the way things are going. He is finding a comfort zone with it. He is able to get on top of things.”

“After a while, teams knew what I was going to throw,” Badgley added. “I am basically a two-pitch thrower, the fastball and split-finger. Teams knew that it was coming. So I added a couple of new pitches and dropped my arm angle down a little bit. I got more movement on it. I am looking forward to a good season.”

Leading one of the oldest pitching staffs in the nation, Badgley looks to guide the Huskies to the MAC Championship this season. Besides Badgley, the Huskies bring back Gavelek, Miller, Nathan Stillwell and Don Rodman.

“We know we can do it,” Badgley said. “If everything goes to plan and everyone does what they are supposed to do, we would have a great chance of winning. But everything has to go to plan.”