'It's like he has a magnet in his shirt for baseballs.' Byron catcher nears HBP record
Playing catcher is supposed to be the hardest, most thankless, most punishing role in baseball.
But for Kyle Jones, Byron’s senior catcher, the bruises mostly come when he steps to the plate.
Jones was hit by a pitch twice in Byron’s 6-3 win over Rock Falls in Tuesday’s Big Northern Conference baseball opener. That made four times in the last three games. And seven times already this season.
His teammates laugh.
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“This is going to sound bad, but we all love it. It’s funny,” shortstop Caden Considine said. “Every time he goes up there, we are hoping he gets hit by a pitch.”
Byron (8-2, 1-0 BNC) has big baseball hopes after winning sectionals last year and winning state in football and taking third in boys basketball this year. Records are never far from Byron minds these days. Including one set by Ashton Henkel, who was hit by a pitch 11 times last year to set a school record.
Jones is closing in on that mark fast.
“It’s like he has a magnet in his shirt for baseballs,” said freshman Andrew Talbert, who threw five innings of two-hit shutout baseball in his first career start on the mound Tuesday. “It’s funny, but you kind of feel bad for him.”
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His coach doesn’t feel bad. Not at all.
“We think it’s a fun thing,” coach Dale Hartman said. “It’s a badge of honor.”
It’s not a badge Jones is trying to earn.
“He doesn’t even crowd the plate,” his dad, Corey Jones, said. “It’s just the luck of the draw that he just keeps getting hit.”
“No he doesn’t,” agreed Hartman. “But he just keeps getting drilled repeatedly.”
“My teammates said it looked like I am crowding the plate,” Jones said, “but I stand in the middle (of the batter’s box) every single time. I guess they are just gunning for me. I have gotten hit almost every single game. It’s good to get on base, though.”
Jones, the starting tight end on Byron’s Class 3A state championship football team and an all-conference wrestler at 190 pounds, takes the beanings in stride.
“He’s got the toughness because he’s a wrestler,” his dad said. “He’s a tough kid and doesn’t let it show. But still, it hurts to get hit by a baseball. He came home the other day and said he got one right on the elbow that got him pretty good. He said, ‘look how swollen my arm is.’
“I told him, well, put some ice on it. You’ve got a game tomorrow.”
If that doesn’t sound caring, well, his son’s biggest complaint isn’t about the pain of getting hit. It’s about losing a chance to swing the bat. The second time he was hit Tuesday, he turned his back to the pitcher, threw up his arms and shrugged his shoulders to the crowd before dropping his bat and trotting to first base. All seven of his hit by pitches have come on the first pitch. He’d like more chances to swing. But unless a pitch is coming at his head, he isn’t about to dodge.
“If it’s going for my body, I just stand there,” Jones said.
He is now four hit by pitches away from Henkel's record.
“I am going for it!" Jones said.
Contact: mtrowbridge@rrstar.com, @matttrowbridge or 815-987-1383. Matt Trowbridge has covered sports for the Rockford Register Star for over 30 years, after previous stints in North Dakota, Delaware, Vermont and Iowa City.
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Byron catcher Kyle Jones on a record pace of getting hit by pitches
