BY SYDNEY SNELSON

The days are longer, the temperature is warmer, and baseball is officially here. Truman’s baseball program has been in the shadows for the past few years. Despite decent records, the team hasn’t been able to pull out a conference title win or make it through the playoffs. But this year, there’s one junior who wants to change that. Kyle Durham has more or less made the sport his whole personality, but with good reason. 

The 6’4 pitcher started his journey at the age of four when his parents introduced him to  the game. As his dad was a Division I player, Durham grew up around the game and realized he wanted to follow in his dad’s footsteps. The junior explains that he found his true passion for baseball at 10 years old. During that time, star Kansas City Royals pitcher Yordano Ventura passed away. Durham was deeply affected by this and began taking pitching lessons. He describes this as a time of transformation where he started to really work on his form.

Durham has built a name for himself in the Truman program. As senior teammate Stuart Grotenhuis puts it, “Kyle has developed a lot over the years in his arm strength and velocity. He’s a great leader and friend who always brings up the energy no matter what”. His desire to play in college has pushed him to become a better player. Focusing on building up his teammates, he pushes himself on and off the field to get better. 

That time truly paid off through his previous season on varsity; pitching multiple innings a night and showing his athleticism at such a young age. Durham describes his favorite game that season as the Chrisman game when he pitched for the first time on varsity. He explained that “winning that game set the tone of who was at the top of the ISD”. Last season, Durham was steady with a 3.70 ERA, but so far this year, he’s strengthened his arm and consistency through training which has allowed him to trim down to a 2.10 ERA during pre-season.

With essentially no off-season, Durham lives and breathes baseball. While spending time away from family, friends, and school to get better, his motivator is the thought of losing. During his short breaks between seasons, Durham spends his time thinking about what he could have done better, what he needs to work on, and what went wrong. This process allows him to assess what he needs to focus on while training to pinpoint his weaker attributes. 

Before the season even started, Durham had already put up great numbers. During his introductory sophomore season, Durham only allowed a .220 batting average from his opponents. Over the summer, however, he proved to be almost unhittable as he dropped their stats down to a .111 average against him. Although the season has just started, Durham is on track to be a powerhouse pitcher in the metropolitan area. 

This year, Durham wants to end with a record of at least 20-10, win conference, and show out in districts. With an entire team and his favorite artist, Lil Uzi Vert, to support him, Durham will be just fine.