Seventeen.
That is how many games
Kale Emshoff suited up to play for Little Rock over the final two years of his collegiate career.
Just 17 chances to play the game he has loved since he was a little kid. But those 17 opportunities more than likely were enough to help ensure he gets many more games behind the plate.
"It's crazy to think about it, but yeah," said Emshoff, with a slight chuckle. "17 games in two years. I never would have imagined."
As is true with a lot of student-athletes around the country, Emshoff took a unique path to go from deep South Texas to Little Rock. A dual-sport athlete, the Robstown, Texas native played his high school ball for perennial powerhouse Calallen, a program that consistently makes deep playoff runs in both baseball and football in talent-rich Texas.
Yet despite earning Class 5A all-state honors, Emshoff didn't have any Division I collegiate offers and was preparing to go the junior college route after graduation. But as luck would have it, a late change to second-year head coach
Chris Curry's recruiting class in July of 2016 left him in need of a catcher. And former assistant coach Russell Raley, now at UT-Rio Grande Valley, felt he had just the fit.
"When Kale arrived here, he had the body of a football tight end," recalled Curry. "Some junior colleges were interested him, but as a first baseman. That was the perception of him coming out of high school as there were questions as to whether or not he could catch at the college level."
Needing another catcher on the roster, Curry took the chance on the big, physical kid from south Texas. And as it is for most freshmen, he admitted that Emshoff had his struggles at the beginning.
One of the advantages both Curry and Emshoff had, however, was an already established, veteran catcher on the squad in Cameron Knight, who ended up being drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals following the 2017 season. During that 2017 campaign, Knight and Emshoff worked closely together with Kale beginning to earn some starts behind the plate on off days. By the end of the season, Emshoff had started 30 games and became the heir apparent for the Trojan catching position.
His development as a player continued that summer in southwest Iowa as a member of the Clarinda A's of the M.I.N.K. Summer College Baseball League. Emshoff was named an All-Star and proved to be one of the league's top hitters, winning the annual Home Run Derby.
In 2018, Emshoff picked up right where he left off in Clarinda, starting all 56 games behind the plate for Little Rock and ranking fourth on the team with a .273 batting average and ranking among the team leaders in doubles, home runs and RBI. He helped lead the Trojans to 28 wins, including a victory over Georgia State in the Sun Belt tournament – the first for the program since 2011.
Emshoff was on an upward trajectory heading into 2019, setting high expectations both for himself and for the team as he prepared for his junior season. But sometimes, life throws an unexpected wrench into even the best-laid plans.
In early October of 2018, Little Rock was hosting its annual Scout Day at Gary Hogan Field with Emshoff serving as one of the main draws for professional scouts from across the country. He went to make a play he had done thousands of times, only this time, the outcome was much different.
"I made a throw down to second during a scrimmage, felt the pop in my arm and knew something was wrong," said Emshoff. "I was in the training room getting it looked at, and Cheyanne (Harper), our athletic trainer, gave me a baseball and told me to throw it, and I couldn't. That's when I pretty much knew what it was."
The doctors confirmed that Emshoff would need Tommy John surgery to reconstruct his elbow. While a fairly common procedure among baseball players, it is still a challenging ordeal based on the amount of time it takes to fully recover – roughly nine months to a year for a positional player.
Despite being faced with the prospect of a lost season right when he was hitting his peak, Emshoff attacked the news with the optimism and maturity that has come to define his career.
"When I think of Tommy John surgery, I actually think of it as a new beginning," said Emshoff." It's a refresher on your arm and most of the time, after the surgery, your arm is stronger and more durable than it was before. The hardest part is the mental aspect, knowing how long the recovery is and how you can't rush it. But its one of those things where if you do the rehab correctly, you come out stronger at the other end."
With a redshirt season already decided upon, Emshoff fully committed to the rehab process, utilizing the upcoming months to return to full strength. Knowing he was sidelined for the 2019 season, he approached coach Curry about remaining an active participant for the Trojan season.
That conversation led to Emshoff seeing extensive time on the field during games, serving as Little Rock's first base coach. The year-long experience proved to be invaluable to him in helping to see the game from a whole new perspective.
"When you're catching and in the moment, you don't really see a lot of those things because you're so focused on the next pitch and a very small aspect of the game," Emshoff said. "But being over at first base allowed me to see so much more of the broad aspect of the game and the little things that happen in a game that I never noticed before."
"Watching from the sidelines at first base, the game really slowed down for him," added Curry. "As he watched how pitchers worked, saw patterns, and then was involved with the coaches on the bench, it opened up for him. Sometimes when you can study the game in a non-emotional environment, you can see a lot of things you normally wouldn't when its your at-bat on the line."
All the while, Emshoff continued to train and rehab from the surgery, focusing on what he felt would make him an elite catcher.
"Kale did early morning workouts with our strength coach,
John Lepo, in addition to regular team conditioning," said Curry. "He took on extra workouts. He came in and did early morning stretches. He watched what he ate. All of which helped develop him into more of a prototypical catcher. He's now more mobile through his hips, more flexible and leaner."
On top of all that, Emshoff's primary focus during recovery came at the plate. Unable to throw, he was still able to work on his hitting, drawing attention from opposing coaching staffs and professional scouts when he would take batting practice with the team prior to games last season.
Right before the start of fall practices, Emshoff got the all clear and was finally able to return to normal practices, workouts and scrimmages with his team. And all the efforts he had done over the past year? Well, people noticed.
"He was hitting balls off the top of our light towers," said Curry.
A year after popping his elbow on Scout Day, Emshoff was back on the turf at Gary Hogan Field for the 2019 edition. And this time, it was a much different outcome. He was hitting the ball as far as he ever had before, drawing audible gasps from scouts in attendance. His throws to second were on target and pitches in the dirt rarely made it past him.
His fall comeback tour continued on to Columbia, Missouri, for a fall scrimmage against SEC foe Mizzou on November 2. Word had started to make the rounds about his added power and mobility, prompting Tiger assistant coach Todd Butler to take a glimpse for himself.
"I'd known about Kale for a while because of my friendship with
Chris Curry, so I made a point of hanging back and watching his batting practice and fielding when Little Rock came up here in the fall," Butler said. "He was hitting home runs to all parts of the field and you could just tell he was a special talent."
Emshoff didn't disappoint that afternoon in Columbia, going 4-for-5 with a pair of home runs and six RBI in leading the Trojans to a pair of exhibition victories over the Tigers at Taylor Stadium. Those home runs came off Mizzou's projected Friday and Saturday starters, closing the fall on a high note as attention turned to February.
Accolades continued to build for Emshoff as the 2020 season drew near. He was named the Sun Belt's preseason selection at catcher, despite not playing in nearly 21 months. He was named to the Buster Posey National Collegiate Catcher of the Year Award watch list and was ranked consistently among the top-100 players in national pre-draft publications.
Finally, on February 14, Emshoff's 18-month setback was complete, setting up back behind the plate once again for the Trojans.
He was making the most of his return to the diamond as through the first 17 games of the year, Emshoff was batting .417 with an .800 slugging percentage, seven home runs and 12 RBI, all of which ranked among both the Sun Belt and national leaders. He had at least one hit in each of his last 13 games, home runs in five of his last seven games and claimed Sun Belt Hitter of the Week honors after going 9-for-17 from the plate with two home runs and six RBI in a 4-1 week for the Trojans.
Then on March 12, one day before the Sun Belt Conference opener, that breakout season, along with others around the nation in a number of sports, came to a screeching halt. The NCAA had canceled all winter and spring championships for the duration of the 2020 academic year due to the global coronavirus pandemic.
Just like that, Emshoff's comeback season was over.
"We had a team meeting with coach Curry shortly after (the announcement), and the mood was just sort of blank," recalled Emshoff. "I don't think it had set in yet that our season was done. For the next little bit, we pulled together as a team and hung out a lot together, trying to cherish the memories of what we had left until we got word we all needed to head home.
"At the end of the day, safety comes first, and we understand that, but it was still really disappointing. I know a lot of the guys that are coming back are gearing up for 2021 already."
"The disappointing thing of it all is I believe Kale was poised to have arguably the best season in the program's history," said Curry. "This could have been the greatest season that never was."
Now, like thousands of student-athletes across the country, Emshoff is back home, trying to figure out what to do with the first spring since he was a young boy that hasn't involved baseball.
He's finishing up his schoolwork remotely and is set to graduate this spring with a degree in health education and promotion, boasting a 3.73 GPA. He's throwing the ball with his dad on their south Texas farm and will occasionally get together with some friends out at a random field, "doing whatever I can."
Up next for Emshoff is the start of his professional baseball career as he prepares for the 2020 Major League Baseball Amateur Draft – whatever that will look like. Despite playing just 17 games over the last two seasons, he has put himself in a position to be one of the highest draft picks in Little Rock program history.
"I've been around this game for a long time, spending 17 years in the SEC, and can say he is one of the best pure hitters I've seen," said Mizzou's Butler. "Whoever takes him in the draft, they'll have a solid all-around athlete that is a great hitter, a great fielder and one who clearly has an understanding of the game."
As far as his impact on the program, coach Curry knows his name is one that will be talked about in Little Rock for a long time.
"There's a guy that went unrecruited as a senior. There's a guy who wasn't an everyday starter as a freshman. There's a guy that had to have Tommy John surgery and lost a year recovering from that. And here he is now one of the top players ever to play for Little Rock. He has helped set the standard for our program and what the expectations are that I have, and his mark on this program is undeniable."
And for Kale – there is no bitterness or regret about how the last two years have played out. Just gratefulness.
"I'm thankful for the time that I've had. Even if its only been 17 games in two years, that's still more than a lot of people get. Mostly what I'm thankful for is everything off the field – being around my teammates and coaches and getting a chance to be a part of something special. I'm thankful for the relationship I've created with coach Curry and the chance he took on me. We created that trust level and he helped mold me into the player I am today.
"I'm just thankful."
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