Full Story
From Baseball Player Magazine
By Steve Sidoti
Kevin Chenicek played his high school baseball at Division Avenue High School, a career that concluded with a 9-0 showing on the mound his senior year. His transition to his freshman season at C.W. Post could not have gone any better.
As far as his pitching, the jump to the East Coast Conference was unproblematic. He struggled at the plate, while starting most of the team's games in the infield. But on the mound, the 6'1 right-hander was outstanding, going 4-3 with a 2.28 ERA. What was more impressive was his command, as he finished with 46 strikeouts and 11 walks in his eight starts.
C.W. Post Pioneers head baseball coach Pete Timmes attributes his now sophomore's success to his maturity, and his ability to locate his pitches, which overall has really impressed the sixth year manager.
“Kevin has tremendous mound presence, with pitching maturity beyond his years,” Timmes said. “He never flustered. The sky's the limit for Kevin. He throws all his pitches for strikes, has a good fastball, tremendous bite on his drop, and an outstanding change with movement. He will throw any pitch in any count. I attribute his control to a compact delivery, which he has the ability to repeat, and a consistent release point.”
“Composure is very important as a pitcher,” said Chenicek. “All I want is to throw strikes. That's all you have to do and let the infielders make the plays. That's what I did all season.”
Team veterans and the coaching staff, also played a part in his fine season.
“Our seniors were very influential on me and my work ethic,” said the Levittown native. “They helped me get through different obstacles to try and succeed. The coaching staff was phenomenal, they were very helpful.”
This summer, Kevin played in the Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League for the Long Island Collegians, finishing with a record of 6-0 as a pitcher, making sure he kept up the hard work and was prepared to face adversity.
“We had a great group of guys,” said Chenicek, referring to his summer league team. “We gelled as a team very quickly. It was just great baseball, great coaching, and we had a great time.”
This season, Chenicek will try to continue his success on the mound for the Pioneers, with the goal of becoming an all around better player.
“Every year I want to be successful,” he said. “I just want to build myself to get better and better and do what I have to do to improve my game.”
He and the coaching staff are looking for great things from him in 2011. As far as his long term baseball goals, Chenicek would love to play professionally some day, but at the same time, continues to enjoy the game for what it is.
“When I started playing baseball it was just for fun, even for college now, it's all about fun. Long term I would love to get to the next level.”