North Carolina State University Athletics
PEELER: Kyle Wilson is Pack's Offensive Catalyst
6/3/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Editor's note: The radio broadcast of all NC State games at this weekend's NCAA Myrtle Beach Baseball Regional will be aired for free on PackPass, GoPack.com's premium platform. Click here at 7 p.m. Friday to listen to NC State's first-round game against College of Charleston. The game will also be broadcast live at WKNC 88.1-FM. Coastal Carolina will also provide a live video stream of all games at the regional, available here.
BY TIM PEELER
RALEIGH, N.C. – Kyle Wilson had all the motivation he needed for a great senior season. While his teammates were playing baseball in various summer leagues or staying here fine-tuning their games in the batting cages at Doak Field at Dail Park, Wilson got up early every morning and went to work.
To fulfill his academic requirements, Wilson needed an eight-hour internship and the only way to get that was to find a full-time gig last summer. So he asked for permission to be away from baseball during a time that is normally reserved for the two sessions of summer school or for wooden-bat leagues in the Midwest, Cape Cod or in small towns around North Carolina.
The senior center fielder from Crystal Lake, Ill., landed what sounded like a sweet internship, working in the corporate sales office of the Texas Rangers. He handled a variety of things around the office, from filling sales orders to planning parts of the summer golf outing. And, for every home game, he was a gofer in the corporate suites.
"It was kind of hard, to be honest with you," said Wilson, who transferred to NC State from Hill (Texas) Junior College prior to the 2008-09 season. "After playing baseball my whole life and not ever really having to work before, to have a full-time job was really kind of different. It was nice to be in the baseball setting, but we were completely in the corporate world.
"It wasn't like being in game-day operations or something, where you were down on the field. It was the corporate world that happened to be for the Texas Rangers."
He was at the office every morning at 8 a.m. and frequently at the ballpark until well after 10 p.m. Every now and then, he met with one of the Rangers' hitting coaches, Goldsboro-native Johnny Narron, a long-time friend of Wolfpack head coach Elliott Avent and the special assignment instructor for Raleigh's Josh Hamilton, to talk about hitting.
But there was very little baseball participation during his three-month internship.
"It was hard to adjust," Wilson said. "That's what made me so hungry to play this year. Having to watch and watch and watch and watch and not be able to play, really made me want to come out and play well this season.
"I realized that school might get old every now and then and there is always a lot to do, but studying is nothing compared to having a full-time job. It was hard and it made school a lot easier when I came back."
Wilson used his motivation to become the Wolfpack's offensive catalyst all season long. As lead-off hitter for one of the most productive team's in school history, Wilson has hit safely in 40 of the 47 games he has played this year. Only twice all season did he go more than four consecutive plate appearances without reaching base. His .511 on-base percentage and 12 stolen bases lead the team.
At one point this season, he had a 14-game hitting streak, which was snapped in the series finale against Clemson.
Heading into Friday night's NCAA opener against College of Charleston, Wilson is batting at team-high .381 with seven homers, 33 RBIs and 41 bases on balls. He hit .400 in last weekend's ACC Tournament and was named first-team all-tournament.
It's been an exponentially better season than his junior year, when he made the adjustment from junior college to NCAA Division I competition. He arrived as a shortstop, but moved around in the infield before settling in as the Wolfpack's starting center fielder for 23 games. He hit just .265, but set a school record with 30 stolen bases.
"Last year was really, really hard not being able to do that and myself not put up the numbers I felt like I was capable of putting up," Wilson said. "I was fortunate enough to get a school record for stolen bases, but that is nothing compared to being able to go to a regional or experience things as a team."
So this weekend is what Wilson has been waiting for. He could have begun a professional baseball career without ever playing for the Wolfpack. He was taken in the 31st round of the 2008 baseball draft by the Chicago Cubs.
But as he watched the Wolfpack face Georgia in the 2008 NCAA Athens Super-Regional, he desperately wanted to experience something similar.
"It gave me chills watching those games, because I wanted to be part of something like that," Wilson said. "As kid, you grew up wanting to go to the College World Series and to Omaha. I wanted to come here and experience that. I wanted to come here and experience that. Go to a regional and a super regional and play on ESPN.
"This year has been really awesome. We've done well as a team. We have had some ups and downs, but the last four weeks we have really hit our stride and have been putting everything together. I think we have a great chance to do well this weekend."
With Wilson setting the table, the Wolfpack has the fire-power to have another excellent weekend in post-season play.
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
