NIPAWIN — Nipawin’s Kyle Froehlich has a passion for baseball and is dedicated to pursuing it.
After being named the Sask Baseball Player of the Year at the 18U level last season, the right-handed pitcher/first baseman is in his first season at Colby (Kansas) Community College. Although the Trojans’ season is just getting underway, Froehlich, a former Muenster Red Sox 18U player, has already seized an opportunity to continue to develop his game in the summer. He recently committed to play for the Moose Jaw Miller Express of the summer collegiate Western Canadian Baseball League.
“One thing I love about baseball is that the game is not over until the very last out is recorded,” the son of Cory and Jacalyn Froehlich said. “In certain sports, a team can kill the time in order to win a close game but in baseball you have to give the other team their chance to score.”
Colby, Kansas
Froehlich, who is studying business administration, said that his first season in Kansas has been amazing.
“I have enjoyed the process of becoming a better baseball player every single day as well as meeting many new people and friends along the way,” he said.
Froehlich said the big difference between college baseball and the levels he has played at before is how much the team practices.
“Practicing daily creates a lot of wear and tear on the body so I had to learn lots about myself and how to recover properly after a long day,” Froehlich said. “I have really enjoyed the challenge of it all.”
The 6-foot, 175-pound student-athlete has impressed the staff at Colby with his work ethic and personality.
“Kyle is an extremely motivated hard worker,” said Ryan Carter, Colby Community College’s head coach, who praised Froehlich as being a good person. “He is very dedicated to his craft and he is really good.”
The veteran coach is excited about Froehlich’s potential as a pitcher, position player and batter.
“There’s no doubt he is going to contribute on the mound,” Carter said. “He has really developed as an offensive player. He is a great defensive first baseman. He’s developed tremendous power from the left side. He’s going to have an opportunity to play on both sides of the ball and have an impact – immediately on the mound and then he’ll get a chance to have his opportunity before he leaves Colby at the plate as well.”
As a pitcher, Froehlich has a fastball that reaches the upper 80s in miles per hour, cutter, breaking ball, and changeup.
“He’s got a four-pitch mix,” Carter said. “He throws strikes and he’s very intelligent.”
Moose Jaw
After his college season, Froehlich is headed to Moose Jaw to compete with and against top players from across North America.
“I am looking forward to playing a higher level of baseball in front of a great Miller Express crowd (permitting they allow fans this summer),” he said. “I also have some family that live close to Moose Jaw so it will be great to be able to play with them in the stands. When I was a kid I got the opportunity to watch some games in the Western Canadian Baseball League and have always had a desire to be able to play in the league myself so it will be a pretty awesome experience.”
Miller Express head coach Eric Marriott said the team expects the “hard throwing right-handed pitcher with a smooth lefty swing” to step into a big role this coming summer.
“Coming to us from a great program in Colby Community College, I am confident he will be ready to hit the ground running with us in the summer on both sides of the ball,” Marriott said. “We have had many talented players join us from Colby and the addition of Kyle adds to that list. Kyle is one of our only dual guys, that being said, he shows tremendous upside both on the mound as well as at the plate.”
Development
Last summer Froehlich batted .444 at the plate and, on the mound, had a 3.00 earned run average. In the Saskatchewan Premier Baseball League’s North Division, he won the Top Pitcher award and the Charlie Meacher MVP award. Froehlich said the Muenster Red Sox baseball program was huge in developing him as a person and plater.
“I had access to some great coaching by Chad and Logan Hofmann, who really helped me become the player I am today,” he said.
As well Froehlich said his parents are a huge reason why he is where he is today.
“Baseball is such a mental game that teaches you all about failure and perseverance, which are two big parts of real life,” he said. “My parents helped me develop the skills to be able to handle failure and learn to persevere through tough times in life that has really helped me in my baseball career as well.”
Froehlich’s father coached him when he was growing up. He emphasized that his dad “spent countless hours practicing with me and getting our team into tournaments because he knew how much I enjoyed it and how much it meant to me.” Of his mother, Froehlich said she has been a huge support for him.
“She loved watching me play no matter if I had a good or bad game,” he said.
