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05/25/2017 12:00 AMIf making your baseball team’s varsity roster as a freshman is an impressive feat, then establishing yourself as the ace of the pitching staff is an incredible achievement. However, Kyle Schaefer earned his spot at the top of the Tigers’ rotation in his rookie season and has held on to it ever since.
Kyle has been playing baseball since the tee-ball level and started concentrating more on pitching when he was in middle school. After earning a varsity nod as a freshman, Kyle made the All-SCC Hammonasset Division Team in each of his first two seasons with Hand. Now a junior, the right-hander is showing no signs of slowing down as Kyle posted a regular season record of 6-1 with a 1.82 earned-run average and 36 strikeouts in 42.1 innings pitched for the Tigers, who qualified for both the SCC and Class L State tournaments.
“I’ve just been trusting my offspeed stuff with my curveball and changeup. I also occasionally mix in my fastball when I need it. I try to keep hitters off-balance, and my velocity has improved every year,” Kyle says. “I like pitching in the big spots. Some people stress, but I don’t, and just keep calm. The biggest thing is just keeping my composure in those spots.”
One of Kyle’s finest outings this spring came when the Tigers earned a 4-3 win over four-time defending Class LL state champion Amity to end the Spartans’ 28-game winning streak. Kyle went the distance by pitching a complete game with seven strikeouts to lead Hand to its statement victory.
“We played them earlier in the year, and I did well in that game. I think I had no earned runs in five innings. We were up 3-1 and just fell apart, so we knew we had a shot to win going into this game,” says Kyle. “It was back and forth early. We had a few errors, but we bounced right back. Julian Banerji hit a big home run, and then Cam Fitzgerald hit another one to put us ahead. Once we got to the seventh, we knew we would win, and I knew there was no way I would let them put any more runs on the board.”
Hand skipper Travis LaPointe says that Kyle features an effective mix of different weapons on the mound and also balances things out nicely with his demeanor in the dugout.
“He has been dominant throughout his career, especially this season. He gets the start in our biggest games and is at his best when the pressure is on. He has a special competitive fire that you just cannot teach. He is fearless on the mound and never backs down from any hitter. He mixes his pitches, changes velocity, and trusts his breaking pitch in any count, which makes him really hard to figure out, and allows him to dominate the hitters that he faces,” says LaPointe. “When he is not pitching, Kyle is the best teammate. He is silly, playful, and makes everyone laugh. When it is time to compete, he is a completely different person. He is ferocious and is all business. He is a pleasure to coach, and it has been so much fun watching him grow as a young freshmen to a mature young man during his high school years.”
When it comes to mixing up his pitches, Kyle says that it’s all about keeping hitters guessing by taking risks when they’re least expected. Kyle adds that he’s done a better job of limiting the damage this year compared to his first two seasons.
“It all starts with having confidence in those offspeed pitches. You have to know you can drop it in whenever, especially in a hitter’s count, like throwing a curveball in a 2-0 or 3-1 count,” says Kyle. “My freshman and sophomore years, I had control issues and allowed a lot of walks. I did an offseason program this year and worked on the control and mechanical stuff. My strikeout-to-walk ratio was 1:1 last year, and it is about 5:1 or 6:1 this season.”
Kyle feels the Tigers have risen to the occasion when battling the SCC’s best this year. The Tigers are playing with plenty of confidence as they approach the postseason, and Kyle believes they have the ability to battle all the way to Palmer Field for the Class L state final.
“When we are playing a really good team this year, we tend to put it together. Going into SCCs and states, we know they are all must-win games against good teams,” says Kyle, who thanks all of his teammates and coaches. “That’s why we can be successful in the postseason. We know what we are capable of, and we can definitely win a state title this year.”