Promising future for Wheeling Park’s Kowalo

The 2013 baseball season for Wheeling Park has been one of the best in school history as the Patriots were undefeated for much of the year and came into this week with a 17-2 record.

One of the main credits to Park’s success comes from senior shortstop Andrew Kowalo, who is set to sign this week with Potomac State. His coach Mike McLeod, who played minor league baseball in the A’s organization, said there’s potential for Kowalo at an even higher level of baseball.

“I believe he’s a Division I player, but he just got started late with the process,” McLeod said. “He was down in Charlotte this summer on a travel team down there and got some nibbles. But by the time it’s your senior year, it’s already too late because all of the college coaches are already out on the road. So, we just got the process started a little too late in terms of Division I.”

Kowalo, who McLeod refers to as his team’s ‘Superman,’ is hitting .455 with three home runs, six doubles, three triples and 17 RBIs. On the mound, Kowalo owns a 4-0 record with three complete games and two shutouts, giving up five runs on 18 hits in 30 innings with just three walks and 33 strikeouts.

The hope is that Kowalo will develop after a year or two at Potomac State and possibly get more attention from bigger programs down the road.

“He had a full-ride offer to Wheeling Jesuit in Division II and had interest from Miami-Dade and Coastal Carolina,” McLeod said. “But he chose to go the junior college route. He’s a 4.0 student with a 21 on the ACT. He’s a good one, a great kid as well. I’m pushing for him and I think the sky is the limit for him.”

WVU coach Randy Mazey has stressed the importance of getting the state’s best players to join his program — something McLeod is hopeful will eventually develop for Kowalo.

“I know Andrew would love to play there and I think Andrew can play there,” McLeod said. “Andrew went to a camp (at WVU) and Coach Mazey had asked about his plans after his senior year. So, being at Potomac State, the two kind of go hand-in-hand.”

You can watch a highlight video of Kowalo above.





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