Former Captain pitches in minor league for Baltimore Orioles

Photo courtesy of Kenny Moreland

Most Division III athletes play for the love of the game, and few expect to make it to the professional level of their sport. Kenny Moreland is the relatively rare exception — the first Captains’ baseball player to sign a professional contract right out of college.

Competition is in Moreland’s blood. Growing up in Springfield, Va., he was a three-season athlete at Robert E. Lee High School. He played football in the fall, basketball in the winter and baseball in the spring — the sport that always had his heart.

“I knew at a pretty young age that baseball was the sport I was going to excel at,” he said. “I loved playing baseball from a young age, and that hasn’t changed a bit to this day.”

During his four years at Lee, Moreland received numerous honors and set plenty of records. He was named the baseball team’s Most Valuable Player three consecutive years, was captain for two, set records for most wins and strikeouts during a player’s final year, and he also hit the most home runs in a game.

After graduating from high school with such a lofty level of success, Moreland began his collegiate career at the Naval Academy Preparatory School, but quickly realized that the school was not sufficiently focused on baseball for his taste. His strong arm and power hitting behind the plate earned him offers from Virginia Tech, Boston College and N.C. State, but he ultimately settled on CNU.

“I fell in love with CNU right when I had my first visit,” Moreland said of his decision to become a Captain in 2005. “I knew that this could be a place where I could jump right in as a freshman and contribute to the team and help us win a national championship.”

His collegiate career began with a phenomenal start as he was named USA South Rookie Pitcher of the Year. He went 6-2 his freshman year, with a 1.52 ERA, and opponents hitting less than .200 against him over the entire season. His comparatively small 5’11” build often worked to his advantage.

“A lot of coaches and scouts have underestimated me solely on my size,” said Moreland.

He doesn’t let that bother him. “They can think however they please. I know I can go out there on any given day and pitch against the best of them. I go out on the mound with a point that I need to prove myself each and every pitch,” said Moreland.

That competitive streak did not go unnoticed by others around him. CNU Baseball Head Coach John Harvell said that the team, “called him bulldog, because every time he went out there, you knew what you were going to get from him.”

His dominance on the mound translated into strong leaderships skills on the team as well. The only current team members who played with Moreland are seniors now, but they still remember him well. “He’s a leader. He was by far the best teammate and best player that we have ever had,” said senior outfielder Travis Medina.

After recording 35 wins and 378 strikeouts at CNU, both school records, Moreland wanted more. He said he got calls from a number of teams before the 2008 professional baseball draft — the Colorado Rockies, Milwaukee Brewers and Washington Nationals among them — “telling me to stay by my phone on draft day because they wanted to select me.”

But it didn’t happen. “I was in disbelief and was really upset,” he said. “I felt let down and I really wanted a shot at proving myself in the next level.”

Little did he know that such a chance would quickly arrive. About 30 minutes after the 2008 draft ended, Moreland received a call from the East Coast head scout for the Baltimore Orioles, and he signed a free-agent contract with them shortly thereafter.

“I couldn’t pass this offer up, especially playing for the team that I grew up watching,” he said. He was optioned to the Bluefield Orioles, Baltimore’s Rookie League team in West Virginia, where he posted a record of 6-4, and an ERA of 2.93.

Since then, Moreland has been slowly working his way up the ladder. In 2009, he started 17 games for the short-season Class A Aberdeen IronBirds in Maryland, where he went 6-1, and gave up less than one earned run per nine innings. The following year, he started 16 games for the low Class A Delmarva Shorebirds in Salisbury, Md., where he went 7-7. This year, he’s with the Class A Frederick Keys in Maryland.

There are only two more rungs on the ladder to the big leagues — the Class AA Bowie BaySox in Maryland and the Class AAA Norfolk Tides in Virginia.

Moreland keeps driving forward, never taking anything for granted. “Not a lot of people can say they have played professional baseball,” he said. “I am honored to be one of the select few.”

Posted by Cassie Vinch on Apr 13 2011. Filed under Baseball, Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.