By: by Heather Wade
KENNESAW, Ga.- Kennesaw State head coach Mike Sansing has announced that seniors Tyler Stubblefield and Kyle Clayton have been named team captains for the 2009-10 season.
The pair was selected captains after a vote by their teammates last week when fall practice began as the Owls prepare for their first full-fledged Division I season. Kennesaw State completed their four-year reclassification period over the summer.
“I am very excited about the team’s selections of Kyle and Tyler as captains for 2010,” said Sansing. “I feel that both of these guys represent the program with the highest integrity on and off the field. It is a great honor for both of them to have that amount of respect from their teammates”
Clayton, a middle reliever and spot starter, returns for his senior season and looks to regain the form of his rookie season in which he won three of four decisions with a 3.58 earned run average. Over his three-year career, Clayton has 45 strikeouts in 55.1 innings and has a lifetime 4-5 record in 32 appearances.
"I appreciate the confidence my teammates have shown in voting me captain, and I look forward to serving them in that role,” said Clayton, native of Cleveland, Tenn. “I am humbled by the honor, but I accept the challenge of the responsibility."
Stubblefield has been a fixture in the Owls infield over the past two seasons and has a .291 career batting average. He was selected by the Atlanta Braves in the 2009 Major League Baseball Amateur Draft, but chose to come back for his senior season with the Owls.
“It's an honor to be selected as captain by my teammates,” said Stubblefield, a native of Woodstock, Ga. “It means a lot that they look up to me and trust in me to be a good leader for the team.”
The 2010 season will mark the fourth year that Clayton and Stubblefield have played under Sansing as each began their collegiate careers in the 2007 season.
“The fact that these guys have been here for four years means that they already know what we expect from them as student-athletes and as players,” commented Sansing.
“They’ve had outstanding leaders in the past in Jay Morrow, Wes Tignor and Ric Bishop as they’ve come through the program and they know the program’s ins and outs.”
As the Owls face their first season in which they are eligible for the Atlantic Sun Conference tournament and a potential berth in the NCAA post-season tournament each has specific goals for the Black and Gold.
“Being the first season out of reclassification and eligible for post-season, we want to not only make the conference tournament, but also qualify for a regional,” said Clayton. “I believe we have the talent to do just that."
Stubblefield added that “we want to make a statement this season by competing with and defeating the big schools on our schedule this season as well as winning conference and qualifying for a regional.”
The Owls started fall practice last week and will continue with intra-squad scrimmages next week.
