THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 26, 1996 TAG: 9607240103
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 27 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PATTI WALSH, CLIPPER SPORTS EDITOR
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: 82 lines
INCH BY INCH, Keith Reynolds made his way to the stoplight.
He looked down. He looked forward.
Then . . . BANG!
Reynolds, a recent graduate of Indian River, wound up hitting a car in front of him and earning a stint in driving school.
Reynolds, who celebrated his 18th birthday one week ago, has spent the past four years of his baseball career with the Braves doing nearly the same thing.
Inch by inch, he made his way into the starting pitching rotation and again, BANG!
He landed himself a scholarship to Louisburg Junior College, a school where the coach told him two of every six of his players are drafted by professional teams.
Somehow, things just seem to fall in place for Reynolds.
After driving school, his record behind the wheel will be clean. And after a stint with the Greenbrier Knights in the Tidewater Summer League and Men's Adult Baseball League and also on a Chesapeake Palomino team, Reynolds is shooting for another clean record.
Already, he's tossed a pair of no-hitters for Greenbrier. His fastball, which he's increased by 5 mph since moving into the starting rotation, has impressed some major league scouts. Reynolds worked out at the tryout camps of the Florida Marlins, Atlanta Braves and Pittsburgh Pirates.
``It kind of stunned me,'' Reynolds said. ``I didn't know people were looking at me like that.''
The recognition is long overdue for a guy who was told that he was not likely to find his niche on the mound.
At Indian River, Reynolds was a centerfielder, who also was expected to play the role of the closer. A rough start forced the Braves to reconstruct the lineup. That meant Reynolds would finally get his chance on the mound and leave the closing duties to freshman Jeremy Linhardt.
``Everything just fell in place,'' Reynolds said.
Indeed. Reynolds crafted an 8-1 record and struck out 87 batters in 47 innings in the regular season as Indian River advanced to the Eastern Region playoffs.
``I felt that if I was given some time to pitch, I'd be OK,'' said Reynolds, who said the regular work as a starter allowed him to add some heat to his fastball. ``I wanted to pitch and I guess I did all right.''
His performance was good enough to earn him All-Tidewater honors and, arguably, status as the pitching phenom of the year.
Since then, he's been working on a series of pitches, including a curve ball, changeup and drop ball. He's also doing exercises to increase his velocity and is quietly shutting down the adult competitors he's facing in summer league.
There, Reynolds is going against former and current college players and men who've been cut from professional teams.
``You go to games and you're used to playing against younger guys,'' Reynolds said. ``But these guys are bringing their kids with them. You get to pitch against better people who are used to harder pitchers.''
Reynolds said the summer league competition will help him prepare for Louisburg and his ultimate dream.
After two years in junior college, Reynolds hopes to transfer to Old Dominion and eventually make it to the pros.
``I love ODU,'' he said. ``Ever since I saw the field I wanted to play there.''
He got that chance during the region playoffs, where, he said, he was ``just shaking.''
``I love the atmosphere.''
From his conversations with the scouts, Reynolds has reason to think he may have a pro future. Pittsburgh scouts, after a tryout, told him they had a place to develop him at an Alabama school. Unfortunately, he had already made a commitment to Louisburg.
But again, it'll all work out, Reynolds said.
``They told me they'd keep their eye on me at Louisburg and to keep up the good work,'' he said. ``I'll be all right. It'll be good for me. I'll be able to concentrate on my grades and there won't be any distractions from home.''
Like traffic violations. Unless, of course, someone wants to ticket his 88.6 mph fastball. ILLUSTRATION: File photo by STEVE EARLEY
Keith Reynolds has a scholarship to Louisburg Junior College, a
school where the coach told him two of six players are drafted by
professional teams. by CNB