Pitcher thrown a curveball, becomes player-coach

by Bryce Johnson
edited by Trent Dunn

Chris Kay walks off the pitcher’s mound of Pappas Field on a sunny Saturday afternoon after deciding to take himself out of the game. Kay just completed getting hit hard by Quinnipiac University in the home opener for the Franklin Pierce club baseball team.

(Photo: Bryce Johnson)

Pulling himself from the game is the first of many difficult decisions Kay will have to make this afternoon he will now transition from pitcher to manager. As the senior captain of the Franklin Pierce club baseball team, Kay holds the difficult position of player-coach.

As a player-coach, Kay is in charge of scheduling games, running practices, team finances (collecting player dues and paying league dues), transportation, attending pre and post-season league meetings and the general organization of the team.

Five years ago, Kay said, “I knew nothing about this school until I played a few AAU games here. I found out that Franklin Pierce had a really good baseball team and after visiting a couple of times, I decided this was where I wanted to go to college.”

Meanwhile, Kay was also thriving on the mound as well at Leominster High School. As a senior, Kay was named a Massachusetts state all-star after going 10 and 1 with a 1.29 ERA. This caught the eye of the Jayson King who was the Ravens coach at the time.

Kay tried out for the Ravens as a freshman, but was cut and told to play for the club team.

“I did not anticipate coming in and competing with guys who are throwing 90 plus,” Kay said. “It was upsetting when I got cut, especially since it was the main reason why I came to Franklin Pierce. But at the time the club team was basically a junior varsity team so guys were getting called-up and sent down all the time.”

Kay pitched once for the club team as a freshman, but injured his throwing shoulder in the fall of his sophomore year. Kay was able to make a couple of appearances as a sophomore but was mostly restricted to the bench to rest his shoulder.

“It was my first sports injury so I did not really know what to do. I felt like I was on my own,” Kay said. “As a competitive person who wants to go out and compete, it was frustrating going to games and watching and not being able to do anything.”

Prior to his junior year, Kay was named a co-captain of the club team alongside senior Dom Souza.

Kay moved up to the lead captain in the spring of his junior season before being thrust into a player-coach role after the coach quit just two games into his senior year.

“It has been difficult trying to be a coach while still being a player,” Kay said. “It is hard balancing playing time and winning as the coach. Sometimes it is difficult because who am I to take a guy out of a game as the field manager when I am basically still just one of the guys.”

So the next time Chris Kay walks off the pitchers mound, the hard part has only just begun.