SPORTS STORIES:
SPORTS INFORMATION—2009
haley's mechanics strong on mound, in classroom...
CLEVELAND, OH (April 2, 2009) - After playing America’s pastime most of his life, senior Kevin Haley chose not to his freshman year at Case Western Reserve University. Thinking back, he can’t recall if it was a lack of desire or the uncertainty of the rigors his first year of college at one of the nation’s top universities would bring.
“I wasn’t sure or not I wanted to play my first year so I sat out, but after a year away from it [baseball] I definitely knew that I had to play,” Haley said. “The year off showed me that I love baseball and I don’t know what I would do without it.”
Three years later, Haley would choose again whether or not he would hang up his cleats or return to the diamond during a fifth year. He already had to return this fall due to a co-op he did first semester last year, but he did not have to stick around for the second semester.
“Coach Englander can be pretty persuasive. I also found out I wasn’t ready to give it up – I wasn’t ready to completely be an adult yet,” Haley explained. “I made the right choice.”
Head Coach Matt Englander definitely knew what he would miss in Haley if he didn’t return to his lineup and that was senior leadership. The Spartans have only one other senior in Michael Robinson (Cleveland, OH) and just two juniors. The rest of the team are underclassmen.
The next tough decision Haley would encounter would not be his, rather Coach Englander’s. It was to let Haley double as a starting infielder and pitcher, something he had done his whole career, or go with young talent in the infield and make him solely a starting pitcher. He went with the latter and the Kent, Ohio native took it like a champ.
“I always like to think I was an infielder that happened to pitch, but there were a couple different factors this year,” Haley said. “We had younger players that could hit better than I could and that were a heck of a lot faster than me. I struggled with it at first, but I know I am valuable to the team on the mound.”
“A big reason why we wanted him to pitch primarily is because he’s able to take on a huge workload due to the fact he worked hard to get into great shape,” Englander explained. “Kevin is out there [pitching] every fourth day and that’s not easy on his body, but he gives us a chance to win every time. He is still a solid collegiate infielder, but we wouldn’t be able to use him on the mound as much as we do if he was also an everyday starter in the infield.”
The team’s 3-3 finish at the University Athletic Association (UAA) Championship tournament last month in Florida was its best since 1995 (4-2, 3rd place) and their tie for second place was the best-ever finish. Haley, who was named to the UAA All-Tournament team, threw 13 innings [two appearances], finishing 1-0 with a 2.77 ERA.
“I just want to do whatever it takes to win,” Haley explained. “If we are better off with me riding pine and just pitching – so be it! I think right now we are really close to turning the program around.”
Case Western Reserve is doing just that. They defeated national powerhouse and UAA foe Emory University twice this season and the College of Wooster, currently ranked No. 4 in the country, once to date.
“Those are teams in the past we never would have thought we could beat,” Haley explained. “So I think we are definitely making strides.”
The mechanical engineering major did a co-op last year at Saint Gobian, a materials company in Hiram, Ohio. Haley worked with scintillation crystals that help make radiation detectors, medical imagers and x-ray scanners. But being a "mechy" wasn’t always in the cards.
“I was always into science and doing stuff with my hands,” Haley explained. “I really liked chemistry in high school, but got to Case and took one class and hated it. I thought I hated physics in high school, then I took physics here and liked it.”
Upon graduation this spring, Haley will head to Structural Integrity in Uniontown, Ohio, which does consulting work for power plant’s piping systems. During each plant’s annual shut down period, he will help examine and analyze the pipes and make sure they are not going to fail.
PROGRESSIVE FIELD … The Spartan baseball team heads to the home of Major League Baseball’s Cleveland Indians for the fourth consecutive year this month. Case Western Reserve will host the College of Wooster Tuesday, April 14 at 12:00 p.m. at Progressive Field. “I couldn’t imagine playing there in front of 40,000 screaming fans – 200 sitting behind home plate is pretty cool,” Haley said. “Growing up in this area it [Progressive Field] has been my place of worship my entire life. I am a big Indians fan.”
Click here to print out a ticket to the game. Two shuttle buses will run every 15 minutes from behind the Thwing Center [Bellflower Road behind Turning Point Sculpture] to Progressive Field beginning at 11:00 a.m. The last bus will leave Progressive Field at 4:00 p.m.
-end-