All Summer Long: Kyle DeMerritt with the Kansas Cannons

All Summer Long: Kyle DeMerritt with the Kansas Cannons

By Grace Vickers, Volunteer Assistant

Kyle DeMerritt, who will be returning to Santa Clara as a senior in the fall, journeyed to the middle of the United States to play baseball for the summer. DeMerritt is playing for the Kansas Cannons in the Walter Johnson League. He gave us a great overview of the league and how his team is currently doing in his interview below. 

DeMerritt played in 46 games for the Broncos during the 2013 season and finished with 7 doubles, the third highest on the team. He is working hard this summer to stay healthy and improve his game so he can help lead the Broncos to a successful 2014 season. 

DeMerritt took the time to answer a few questions about his summer.

SCU: Can you tell us about the Walter Johnson League? What team are you on?

KD: I am out here in Wichita, Kansas playing for the Kansas Cannons. The Walter Johnson League is fairly competitive and split up into two divisions. The first place team in each division gets an automatic bid in the Super Regional where the top two teams go on to play in the NBC World Series. This historic tournament brings together 32 teams from all over the country to play this tournament at the  Lawrence-Dumont Stadium. We are battling for first place in our division, hopefully we can make it all the way!

SCU: What is a typical day of summer ball like?

KD: On a typical day here I wake up around 10 am, make breakfast, and then go to the YMCA with my roommate. The YMCA's out here are massive with a full set of work-out machines and weights, basketball and racquetball courts, programs for yoga, a recreational pool, a pool with swimming lanes, a rock climbing wall, and a mini water park built in the back. Needless to say, they are amazing and a large amount of people take advantage of these fitness and recreational centers. We usually hang out there for a while and get back between 2 and 3 to make lunch and get ready for our games. We play a good amount of double headers which take place at 6 pm and 8 pm and are two 7 inning games. After that, we come home where we usually have dinner waiting because our host family is awesome.

 

 

SCU: Where are some of your teammates from? Are any of your teammates from far or interesting places?

KD: About half of my teammates are from Kansas, while the others are spread out in states like Missouri, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Nebraska. Actually my roommate is the only other person from California; there aren't many California players out here.

SCU: What do you hope to learn this summer? What are some of the skills you are working on?

KD: This summer my main goal is to get healthy and stronger because we actually have a pretty decent amount of time without school and including some off days. Besides that, I just need to continue getting my reps in all over the infield and see live pitching so I'm ready for fall ball. Lastly, summer baseball is the best and it's been a blast so far meeting new guys and getting away from California for a bit.