Apollo’s own Will Strode will be taking the next step in his baseball career after he signed to play Division 1 baseball at Kent State University. The pitcher/infielder is set to play his final season for Apollo in the Spring after helping the Eagles bring home the 3rd Region Championship last season. Strode had major contributions at the plate by leading in RBIs, HRs and BA all while tying for the most ABs and Hs on the team. On the mound Strode pitched for 51.1 innings and accumulated 61 strikeouts.
The Kent State Golden Flashes have won 12 titles in the Mid-American Conference and were runners up last year after being defeated by champions Ball State. They last qualified in the NCAA Division 1 Championship in 2018 where they lost to Louisville in the first round.
Kent State University is a ways away from Owensboro, but the distance didn’t matter to Strode as he said he wanted to experience the independence of moving away from home. Moving away from home was always the plan as he never envisioned himself staying in Owensboro for college, he said. Although his visits home will be a bit of a trip, Strode feels the offer is all he could have asked for.
“It feels awesome,” he said. “I’m grateful for the opportunity, and I can’t wait. I wanted to be independent and be sort of away from my parents for the first time, even though I love them and I want to be close to them all the time. I feel like my trips home will be more meaningful. It’s also a D1 school, and they gave me a really good offer. I mean it’s all I could really ask for. They’re a really good program, so it doesn’t matter about the distance.”
Aside from the Golden Flashes baseball team, Strode was attracted to Kent State’s Ambassador Crawford College of Business and Entrepreneurship. Strode will be double majoring in finance and marketing. After seeing the success of the baseball team, the business school and the thought of being an alumnae alongside famous Golden Flashes such as Nick Saban, Strode said that Kent State was a no-brainer.
With the end of his high school career approaching, Strode said what he will miss the most about playing for the Eagles will be the friendships he’s made along the way.
“I think I’ll miss the friendships I’ve built throughout the years the most,” he said. “I know I’ll build more friendships in college, but I think the friendships here are special because I’ve grown up with them since elementary school. I think I’ll miss that mostly.”
