Tech's Kelley named RSC Pitcher of the Year
May 2—Hunter Fansler and Robert Kelley were teammates last summer with the Harrisonburg Turks of the Shenandoah Valley League. Fansler was firmly entrenched as a top player at WVU Tech and was spending the summer further developing his game.
Kelley, meanwhile, was looking for a home after a successful season at Tennessee Wesleyan.
Success followed him to Harrisonburg, where he was 4-1 and got the win in the Turks' 7-2 championship victory over the Charlottesville TomSox.
Seeing Kelley's ability and getting to know him, Fansler went into recruiting mode.
"Yeah, absolutely I did," Fansler said with a laugh. "I saw him throw this summer and I heard he didn't have a place to go in the spring. I told him, 'Man, I can take you to a place where we've got some good golf and the coach is going to love you.'"
It turned out WVU Tech coach Lawrence Nesselrodt was already familiar with Kelley, and Fansler was right.
"I had recruited him out of Potomac State," Nesselrodt said. "He had played two summers ago for one of my former players in Strasburg (in the Valley League), so I had him on the radar. It just took a while to get him into the boat. Once we got the hook in him, we reeled him in. And Hunter was a big part just being the quality person that Hunter is.
"When I found out he was looking for a school, it didn't take long for me to drive to Harrisonburg. (Assistant coach) Joe (Goddard) and I went down a couple times. We saw him and he felt comfortable (with Tech) and absolutely loves the place."
Nesselrodt finally got his man, and Kelley has not disappointed. He has been one of the top starting pitchers in the River States Conference and on Thursday was recognized as such.
Kelley was voted the River States Conference Pitcher of the Year. He received the award during a break in the tournament Thursday evening.
The all-conference first-teamer took an 8-3 record and 3.71 earned run average into the conference tournament that started Thursday. He also had 111 strikeouts to just 18 walks, a ratio of 6.16 strikeouts for every walk. The 111 strikeouts are tied for most in NAIA and his 12.49 strikeouts per nine innings is 20th nationally.
"Bottom line, the guy's just a great competitor," Nesselrodt said. "He's not the hardest thrower, he's not the biggest guy, but, man, he's got the biggest heart and desire and work ethic, and he just competes. He's been a great addition to the roster. It's just brought an attitude, along with his 93 mile per hour fastball, but it's his second and third pitches that have really allowed him to keep hitters off balance. That's the main reason for the strikeouts."
Competitor is the word that seems to always come up when talking about Kelley, a three-time conference Pitcher of the Week.
"I saw it in the summer that he was just a competitor, even when he didn't have his best stuff, and that was something that we needed," Fansler said. "He's just been absolutely dominant this year. He's one of the most fun ones to play behind. That I've ever played behind, honestly. Even when I went through at Marshall."
"He's a mature young man when it comes to baseball," said Isaac Wengert, in his first year as Tech's pitching coach. "He understands the game. He gets it. He knows his body. He's very coachable. He listens. He makes adjustments on the fly, makes adjustments in the game. He's a big reason for our success, obviously, being the nation leader in strikeouts. But he brings it every day. He's focused every day on what he needs to get accomplished to be the best he can every weekend for us."
Kelley, a Vienna, Va., native played two seasons at Potomac State where he was a combined 11-2 with 126 strikeouts and 35 walks and a 3.57 ERA over 95.2 innings.
He transferred to Tennessee Wesleyan last season and made seven appearances, four of them start. He was 2-1 with a 3.51 ERA.
Fansler, shortstop Broedy Boyce and left-handed pitcher Matt Gainer were named to the second-team, while utility player Noah Lukas, outfielder Logan Stump and catcher Garrett Warden were third-teamers.
Stump was also named to the NAIA Champions of Character team.
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