Baseball enhances roster with local versatile athlete
7/8/2010 – Niceville's Kennedy to join NWF State
By ADAM ROSENBERG Northwest Florida Daily News 315-4484 | arosenberg@nwfdailynews.com
Niceville's Kyle Kennedy had a few choices when it came to selecting a college to continue his baseball career, but top-notch facilities and the comforts of home won out in the end.
Kennedy will join Niceville teammates Chris Krenek and Michael Coelho in this year's recruiting class for coach Doug Martin at Northwest Florida State College. The versatile Kennedy will compete for playing time in both the outfield and at second base.
Despite offers from Florida State Community College in Jacksonville and Central Alabama Community College, Kennedy felt most comfortable with the Raiders in Niceville.
"The facilities here were much better than at the other places," Kennedy said. "And I just liked the idea of staying home and playing baseball."
Martin thinks Kennedy might be the best overall athlete in the program. At Niceville, Kennedy played defensive back for the Eagle football team in addition to playing baseball.
With that kind of athleticism in place, Martin simply wants to smooth out some of the rough edges so that athleticism can be fully harnessed.
"He might be as good of an overall athlete as we might have," Martin said. "He's a versatile kid that can run some and has a really good arm. He's just a good all-around athlete."
Kennedy said the fact that he would be joining his high school teammates helped but didn't play an integral role in his decision.
"It wasn't the biggest part of the process," Kennedy said. "But it did make it easier to have teammates to play ball with and make it more comfortable. All my family lives here in Niceville. I'll be a lot more comfortable here than going off on my own and not knowing anybody."
Kennedy said his biggest focus this offseason is building his strength and perhaps putting on some weight. He's going to need his strength to help the Raiders make a run at the playoffs after a disappointing season.
"I think we played a lot of quality baseball teams at Niceville," Kennedy said. "That will make the transition (to the Panhandle Conference) easier. We're used to playing good competition."