Owls baseball adds veteran infielder

Pete Paguaga
After finishing the 2010 season ranked 20 in the nation, the Southern Owls baseball team added a player that will add onto last season’s program record of 38 wins.
“Coming from a winning program at UConn-Avery Point, I know what it takes to win games,” said Kyle Cummings, the newest player to Southern’s baseball team, “also coming to Southern as a junior and having two years of junior college baseball under my belt, I have experience and will push those on my team.”
Cummings, who played baseball at Hamden High School, was an SCC All-Academic team and was an honorable mention to the All-State team his senior year. He said that being close to home was one of the many reasons he chose to come to Southern.
“I chose Southern for the outstanding baseball program, the school’s athletic facilities and most importantly the academics,” said Cummings. “I also wanted to stay close to home and Southern was the best school for me in New England with my major, and it also gives me a chance to prolong my collegiate baseball career.”
Even though Cummings transferred to a new school, he already knows a few of his “new” teammates.
“Mike Johnston, the closer for our team, is a good friend of mine and we were teammates at UConn-Avery Point. I also played at Hamden High School with teammates Will Hindinger and Greg Pacelli. I played AAU with pitcher Steve Landell,” said Cummings.
Johnston, who transferred from UConn-Avery Point last season, is now roommates with Cummings and said he is excited to be playing baseball with Cummings again.
“Getting to play with Kyle again is great. We started out at UConn-Avery Point together, where we quickly connected and I loved knowing that very few ground balls would get by him and big hits would be produced, its takes a lot off for me as a pitcher knowing that,” said Johnston. “I also played college summer ball with him for the ‘Shockers,’ so I am familiar with what he has to offer and he does not disappoint.”
Cummings, who played both the shortstop and second base positions at UConn-Avery Point, plans to play either position, and help add depth to an already solid group of infielders.
Defense is Cummings’ best part of his game but his offense isn’t far behind.
“The best part of my game is definitely defense, although I am working hard to improve my hitting. I have learned at a young age that defense wins championships,” said Cummings. “It’s the routine plays that will win games.”
Johnston agreed with Cummings, and said he will bring more to Southern than just his outstanding glove.
“Kyle will bring solid defense and a good bat to our program, he will bring a fresh ‘want to win’ attitude as well as his experience and work ethic learned from years of playing baseball and from transferring from UConn-Avery Point. He will be dependable and a great asset to what we already have here at Southern and our baseball program,” said Johnston.
With Southern adding a player like Cummings, the expectations should be the same if not higher than last season’s.
“I would be lying if I said it wasn’t to make the Division-II College World Series because that is every college baseball player’s dream,” said Cummings. “From what I have heard, the NE-10 conference is one of the toughest in the country, so its not going to be easy. We have to take it one game, one at bat, one pitch at a time.”
Johnston isn’t the only person that expects great things and has high expectations for Cummings. Collegiate Baseball magazine has named Cummings as a newcomer to watch this season.