By Carmine Vetrano
Kyle Zarotney
Senior Kyle Zarotney, picked third in the preseason NEC Coaches’ Poll, is a key ingredient to the CCSU Blue Devils baseball team.
The Berlin native is looking to gain more playing time in the outfield and hopes to exit his Central Connecticut State University career with a conference championship.
For Zarotney, a majority of his playing time is slated for right field where last year he a .942 fielding percentage in the outfield. Last season, Zarotney had 63 put outs to go along with two outfield assists with hopes of becoming comfortable with the outlook of any everyday outfielder.
“Personally I am looking to gain more experience at new positions. I am most likely going to play right field majority of this year and the only real experience I have at that position is this summer when I played there,” he explained. “Also this summer I started pitching and I hope to get some time on the mound during the season to gain more experience.”
A big reason for the optimistic outlook is the fact that the team has their own their own baseball field on campus after playing their home games at New Britain’s Beehive.
“Being at home will be very important to us this year considering we haven’t had a true home game since my freshman year,” Zarotney said. “Being on campus will hopefully bring a lot more fans to our games which will create a better environment for us. Also it helps that we are able to practice and get to know how our field plays unlike past two years when the only time we would play on our “home” field is during the games.”
Prior to his final season at Central, Zarotney spent his summer in the Atlantic Colligate Baseball League and was a member of the Sag Harbor Whalers. Due to his efforts, a .267 batting average to go along with six homeruns and 16 RBIs, Zarotney was selected to the 2009 ACBL All-Star game.
“I think summer leagues are really important, it’s a chance to get better as a player. It is a chance to learn from other coaches and players and see other point of views,” said Zarotney. “This summer in the ACBL was my first summer league and I enjoyed it a lot. It was a great learning experience.”
Zarotney last season started in 19 games but played in 32. He batted .288 and had 19 hits for seven RBIs. After the proodcutin the team has been making working out on their new field, he likes to overall look of where the team is going.
“At first we were a little skeptical about how our pitching was going to be this year after losing three of our four starters but at this point we are excited and anxious to start the season,” Zarotney explained. “We feel we have good team chemistry and are ready to compete for an NEC title.”
CCSU’s NEC hopes slipped right out from under them last season in heart breaking fashion by top seeded Wagner College in extra innings. Zarotney feels that the teams goal is to go beyond that.
“For our team we hope to gain more and more chemistry over the year. We hope that the team really comes together and we become the top team in the NEC again and gain the experience of winning the conference,” he said.
“Our biggest goals other then a championship is to win every weekend series so we make it to the tournament and we also want to be better then we were last year in every category.”
With Zarotney primed for an impact, CCSU baseball should be ready.
