PR2.14.05

Kuykendall signs to play baseball at PSC
By TONY CIMAGLIA Tribune Managing Editor

Keyser High School senior Josh Kuykendall (seated, left) recently signed a national letter-of-intent to play baseball at Potomac State . With Kuykendall is his father, Gene (seated), and Keyser High head coach Stan Szafran. Tribune photo/Tony Cimaglia

Stop me if you've heard this one before - someone with the last name Kuykendall is playing baseball at Potomac State College.

Keyser High School senior Josh Kuykendall recently signed a national letter-of-intent to continue his academic and baseball careers with the Catamounts.

The 6-foot-6 left-handed pitcher continues a long line of Kuykendalls who have donned the blue-and-gold in the past. His brother Charlie played on the 1995 World Series championship team, and another brother, Billy, and cousin, Jeff, also played for the Catamounts, just to name a few.

Carrying on that tradition was one of the factors Josh used in deciding where to go to school.

"It's a great program," said Josh. "My brother (Charlie) went here when they won the World Series, and ever since then I've wanted to play here."

"He comes from a long line of good baseball players," said PSC head coach Doug Little. "I think he's a guy who will make an immediate impact as a freshman. Watching him grow up through the past several years, I think he's going to be one of the best pitching prospects to come out of this area in a long time."

As a sophomore and junior at Frankfort High School, Kuykendall compiled an overall record of 16-4 with a 1.74 ERA. He struck out 139 batters in 119 innings pitched.

In 2003 he was a special honorable mention on the West Virginia All-State team and was second-team All-Area as an infielder.

In 2004, he was second-team All-Area as a pitcher and was named the team's MVP.

"I think I can bring a lot of stuff to the team," Kuykendall said. "I've been working on my pitches over the winter, lifting weights and getting stronger. I think I can bring a live arm to the program."

Little couldn't agree more.

"I would love to be in his shoes - a 6-6 left-hander," Little said. "He's got a chance, if he works hard, to go a long way in baseball. I think he's got a chance to move on to play big time college baseball in Division I or maybe even pro ball somewhere down the line."