To hoop or to pitch?
That was the question Kyle Hopwood, a Criminal Justice major, had to answer after finishing his senior season of basketball at Wayne High School.
Hopwood signed his letter of intent to play baseball at Sinclair Community College earlier in his senior year of high school, but after a productive year on Wayne’s basketball squad, he received a scholarship to play for Urbana University.
“(I decided to take) the Urbana scholarship (offer) over Sinclair’s,” Hopwood said.
After playing the 2006-07 basketball season at Urbana, he tried out for the Pride during the summer of 2007 and made the team.
“I was missing baseball too much,” Hopwood said. “I should’ve started (at Sinclair) from the get-go.”
Hopwood is in his second year of pitching for the Pride and is one of the team captain’s along with Ricky Masson, Taylor Hoisington and Dan Marsh.
Hopwood said he has gotten a few calls from some small division III colleges, but if he doesn’t get a chance to play at the next level he plans to finish up his degree and enlist into the U.S. Marine Corps.
He said that the pitcher he looks up to is Greg Maddux.
“(Maddux) is really good at location,” Hopwood said.
Hopwood said when he’s on the mound, his favorite pitch is a change-up.
“I try to keep ‘em off balance,” said Hopwood about beating hitters at the plate.
Hopwood is all about fair play and detests the use of steroids by athletes.
“I’m not for them, at all,” he said. “Just the aspect of someone taking them is horrible, especially in sports.”
When it comes to Hopwood’s success as a pitcher he credits his father with helping get to where he is.
“My dad helped me a lot when I was younger – definitely,” Hopwood said.
He also learned how to throw a splitter from the late Jim Harrison, better known as “Coach” around Sinclair’s campus. Hopwood’s desire to continue playing baseball comes from the spontaneity of it.
“Every day is different,” Hopwood said. “The challenges you have to be up against.”