By Harry Minium
Kyle Battle said the key moment for one of the greatest seasons in Old Dominion University baseball history came a couple of months ago in Huntington, West Virginia, when coach Chris Finwood gathered his team together to somberly tell them his wife had died.
Annette Finwood succumbed to pancreatic cancer on April 1, and while her passing had long been expected, it was still a huge blow to the long-time ODU baseball coach and his family.
"To see coach Finwood stand in front of us and pour his heart out, for him to tell us how this affected him, that pushed us to another level," said the ODU outfielder.
"We knew that we had a good team, that we would win a lot of games. But that gave us a lot more motivation. We're a close group. But that brought us a lot closer together.
"It's been a pretty magical season."
Indeed it has. The Monarchs head into Wednesday's C-USA tournament with a 38-14 record and are ranked No. 12 in the NCAA RPI and ranked 18th nationally by Baseball America. They have won six of their last seven games, including the last two against Louisiana Tech in Ruston, Louisiana last week.
The Monarchs meet Florida Atlantic in the first round Wednesday at 10 a.m. at Louisiana Tech's at J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park (MoneyTalk 1310-AM, ESPN+).
It's also been a magical season for Battle. He has a .326 batting average, leads ODU with 17 home runs and a .714 percent slugging percentage and is second with 54 RBIs.
Finwood said Battle also has stellar "Money Ball" statistics, a reference to the movie of the same name that extolled the system now employed by many Major League Baseball teams that values some unsexy but vital stats.
He's been walked 49 times, nearly double that of any other Monarch, and has a .480 on-base percentage. He also has a .984 fielding percentage and has stolen six bases in eight attempts.
The redshirt senior is getting some looks from Major League Baseball teams.
And he hardly would have thought that to be possible, given that his career at ODU has been pocked with injuries.
A native of Glen Allen, Virginia, a relatively affluent area just west of Richmond, Battle had an idyllic childhood. He has great parents, went to good schools, had a solid group of friends and a baseball career he hoped would take him to the majors.
"I was late playing baseball," he said. "But when I started playing I realized I was pretty good.
"By the time I got to middle school, I figured it would be pretty cool to do this for a living."
He was recruited by hometown school VCU but was lured to Norfolk in part by assistant coach Karl Nonemaker, now an assistant coach at Auburn.
He came to ODU's summer camps, and was impressed with Finwood, who told him he likes to play freshmen if they are good enough to play. Battle wanted to play right away and Finwood promised him the chance to earn a spot in the starting lineup.
"I wanted to get away from Richmond," he said. "I've been in Richmond my whole life.
"The coaches here treated me like family. They coached me up while I was in high school. I just thought ODU was a better fit.
"My Mom (Diane Battle) went to VCU. When I made my decision, she said she would support ODU in everything but basketball."
Given the intensity of the basketball rivalry between ODU and VCU, that was understandable.
Early during his first semester at ODU he sat through a meeting Finwood has every year. He asked his players to tell their teammates about a hardship they've overcome, a happy time in their lives and a hero they look up to.
Nearly everyone but Battle had a moving tale of obstacles they had to overcome.
"I never had a hardship like these guys," said Battle, who joined freshman Carter Trice and junior pitcher Hunter Gregory on the Conference USA first team announced Tuesday.
Finny, as the players call Finwood, delivered a reality check that perhaps every person who's lived a charmed life needs to hear.
"Even if you haven't had a hardship, it's coming," Finwood said. "One day, you'll be in the same spot as these guys."
It didn't come right away. Battle was a Freshman All-American his first season, when he was second on the team with a .341 batting average. But the challenges were just around the corner.
During his sophomore season he tore the labrum in his right arm, but more importantly, he learned that his father, David Battle, was having major health issues. He was eventually diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease, which is incurable but can be treated with drugs.
Both the injury, and the news about his dad, came within weeks of each other.
"That hit hard, with both of them coming at the same time," he said. "He's been battling through it. He's doing much better now, now that we have figured out what it is. He's taking medicine and that's helped a lot.
"Even with everything he's going through, he's the strongest person I know. I really look up to him because he's really been strong throughout this journey."
Diane and David Battle are at every ODU home game.
"Kyle has a really close family," Finwood said. "They're wonderful, wonderful people and have been super supportive."
His father got better, but his injury issues were just starting. He had surgery on his labrum, played with the Monarchs in pain as a sophomore, and then had surgery on the labrum in the offseason.
He was still rehabbing the labrum during his junior year, and when the injury finally healed, he broke his hand when hit by a pitch in a game against VCU. He sat out more than a month in preparation for the C-USA Tournament.
He was looking so forward to his senior season in 2020, but then he dislocated his shoulder playing for the Peninsula Pilots over that summer.
He was unable to practice in the fall of 2019, but was off to a great start as a senior last spring when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down all of college sports. He and his teammates struggled through a quarantine and when they returned to campus this fall, had to give up their social lives and form a "bubble" in order to keep from contracting COVID-19.
The team spent more time than ever together, which brought the Monarchs closer together. And, knock on wood, his injury bugaboo appears over. He was able to practice last fall, and, he said, "I've felt as good as I have since I as a freshman."
Finwood said his breakout game was a 10-8 early-season victory against Northeastern, when Battle belted a two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth to win the game.
"People have no idea what he's been through," Finwood said. "Knowing that and seeing him run around the bases, with so much joy on his face, I was grateful to be a small part of it. That was special, man. Those are the moments you coach for."
ODU does not need to win a game this week to make it to the NCAA Tournament. With a No. 12 RPI, a couple of victories may be enough to get the Monarchs a No. 1 seed. Even if they lose two in a row, they will make the field of 64.
But ODU hasn't won a conference title since 1996, when the Monarchs claimed their third Colonial Athletic Association tournament in a row. Those three CAA championps are pictured on the outfield fence at the Bud Metheny Baseball Complex.
"We see the other conference championships on the wall," Battle said. "We said on the bus down here, 'let's put our picture on the wall.'
"Winning the tournament means so much to us. We talked about it early this season. That was our goal. We've put ourselves into a good position. Now, we want to bring a championship trophy back to Norfolk."
ODU bused to Ruston last week to play two games against LA Tech and spent the five days between the last game and the tournament working out at the Bulldogs' stadium.
"That was great planning by Finny," Battle said. "Beating them twice was huge for us because they were so highly ranked. We've been on their field every day since.
"Besides LA Tech, we're the second home team. I really think that will give us an advantage."
If the Monarchs win on Wednesday, they will either play Charlotte, the No. 1 seed, or No. 8 Middle Tennessee Thursday at 1:30 p.m. ET
"Winning the first two games is the key to winning the tournament," Finwood said. "That allows you to control your bracket."
Ryne Moore will pitch against FAU and Hunter Gregory in Game 2. Moore pitched well against FAU in Boca Raton, when the Monarchs swept three of four games, while Gregory smoked Charlotte when he faced the 49ers.
"It usually all comes down to pitching," Finwood said.
Battle's college career is winding down and he has consciously tried to avoid talking or thinking about his chances of being drafted.
"This is my last year of college baseball and I wanted to have as much fun as possible," he said. "If the draft doesn't work out, there are other avenues for me to take."
But clearly, Battle still harbors that middle school dream of lacing up his cleats in Fenway Park, Yankee Stadium or Wrigley Field.
"The reason I'm still playing now is that I love the game," he said. "I really love it.
"I really want to have the chance to make it in the big leagues and do this for a living. Having the chance to do that at the next level would be awesome."
Minium worked 39 years at The Virginian-Pilot, where he was twice nominated for the Pulitzer Prize and won 26 state and national writing awards. He writes news stories, features and commentaries for odusports.com and odu.edu Follow him on Twitter @Harry_MiniumODU, Instagram @hbminium1 or email hminium@odu.edu
Minium: Kyle Battle Battled Through Adversity and is Having a Special Season for ODU Baseball
