2008 Woodie Awards
Pitcher begins to shine for Miami after making team as walk-on
Sam Hitchcock
Issue date: 4/25/08 Section: Sports
It could be straight out of a Disney Movie: ordinary college boy has a dream to play for his school's division I baseball team, works really hard during the summer, makes it as a walk-on, gets playing time, becomes go-to guy for team.
Although that last part has yet to come to fruition, the rest has been a self-fulfilling prophecy for Kyle Donawerth. A Miami sophomore and pitcher for the baseball team, Donawerth has found himself living the fantasy he always dreamed of-posting 17 strike outs this year compared to 5 walks with a 6.32 ERA (second best among newcomers).
"Last year I played club baseball for Miami," Donwerth said. "I got hurt though, but that helped me attend a couple games of the varsity team and thought I could play here."
Donawerth met with the coach who told him to work toward his goal over the summer and prove himself during walk-on tryouts.
"I had never met with Kyle previously," pitching coach Ben Bachmann said. "But when he was at the tryouts he really impressed us and we granted him a three-week extension. We kept giving him different trials and each time he would succeed so eventually we had no choice but to give him a spot on the roster."
Donawerth was not recruited out of high school, but he believed in his pitching ability and applied himself over the summer to make tremendous strides.
"I spent a lot of time hitting the weights during the summer and every day spent a couple hours working on my stuff." Donawerth said. "It was all towards the goal of hopefully making the team and getting some playing time."
Playing time came in the 12th game of the season against Northern Iowa.
"His first start was when I realized the potential that Kyle had," Bachmann said. "He has great control and his off-speed stuff is where the kid's real bread and butter is at. His game resembles that of (Philadelphia Phillies pitcher) Jamie Moyer, a lefty who's crafty and has been sometimes dominant over the years because he uses his off-speed pitches to get weak contact."
Although that last part has yet to come to fruition, the rest has been a self-fulfilling prophecy for Kyle Donawerth. A Miami sophomore and pitcher for the baseball team, Donawerth has found himself living the fantasy he always dreamed of-posting 17 strike outs this year compared to 5 walks with a 6.32 ERA (second best among newcomers).
"Last year I played club baseball for Miami," Donwerth said. "I got hurt though, but that helped me attend a couple games of the varsity team and thought I could play here."
Donawerth met with the coach who told him to work toward his goal over the summer and prove himself during walk-on tryouts.
"I had never met with Kyle previously," pitching coach Ben Bachmann said. "But when he was at the tryouts he really impressed us and we granted him a three-week extension. We kept giving him different trials and each time he would succeed so eventually we had no choice but to give him a spot on the roster."
Donawerth was not recruited out of high school, but he believed in his pitching ability and applied himself over the summer to make tremendous strides.
"I spent a lot of time hitting the weights during the summer and every day spent a couple hours working on my stuff." Donawerth said. "It was all towards the goal of hopefully making the team and getting some playing time."
Playing time came in the 12th game of the season against Northern Iowa.
"His first start was when I realized the potential that Kyle had," Bachmann said. "He has great control and his off-speed stuff is where the kid's real bread and butter is at. His game resembles that of (Philadelphia Phillies pitcher) Jamie Moyer, a lefty who's crafty and has been sometimes dominant over the years because he uses his off-speed pitches to get weak contact."
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