Exeter’s Alex Kelsey excited for chance to play in Big 26 Baseball Classic
“Amazing”
That was Alex Kelsey’s reaction when he learned he made Pennsylvania’s Big 26 baseball team.
The center fielder had a big season for Exeter in the spring and is having an equally big summer for the Berks Bulls but didn’t think he had much of a chance to make the elite squad.
“I wasn’t really expecting to make it, because of all the older kids,” he said. “There were like 95 kids at the tryouts, so I was surprised when my parents told me I made it.”
Kelsey will head to Harrisburg for a three-game series against Maryland’s top players beginning Friday at 7:05 at FNB Field, where the Class AA Senators play. He is one of just two rising juniors on the Pennsylvania roster.
Kelsey is one of four Berks players selected for the ninth edition of the Big 26 Classic, along with Gov. Mifflin’s Tyler Minick, Twin Valley’s Kannon Zdimal and Devin Sheerin, his Exeter teammate.
Game 2 will be played Saturday at 4:35, with the series finale Sunday at 1:05. Pennsylvania leads the all-time series 5-3.
“I’m very excited, because there’ll be a whole lot of college scouts there,” said Kelsey, “and I’ll be able to get my name out there more and try to get recruited. It is a big deal.”
Kelsey’s name should be out there already after the way he played in helping Exeter reach the PIAA Tournament. In his first full varsity season he led the Berks League with 30 runs scored and 21 stolen bases and was among the league leaders with a .495 on-base percentage. He was an all-division pick in Berks I.
In 26 games he batted .385 and had a .487 slugging percentage, each figure third-best on the team.
Kelsey was the youngest player in a veteran lineup that produced 7.4 runs per game.
“It boosted my confidence by being the only sophomore in the lineup,” he said. “It helped that the seniors were encouraging me.”
Kelsey displays all the tools on the diamond: He can hit, run, throw and field. That last category might be the strongest part of his game. It’s not uncommon to see him race in to make diving plays on sinking line drives. He covers a lot of ground out there.
“I think I’ve got all the tools for a center fielder,” he said. “I can get to balls easily.”
Kelsey is also an effective pitcher and provided some key relief stints for the Eagles. The lefty didn’t allow a run over four scoreless appearances and struck out nine over six innings. He allowed just one hit.
This was the first time he pitched since suffering a stress fracture in his left arm as a seventh-grader. His eight-grade season, in 2020, was wiped out by COVID; he didn’t throw last year.
“I love pitching, but my arm isn’t all that (strong right now),” he said. “(but) I like closing games.”
Kelsey played a key role as a guard in basketball for the Eagles, helping them reach the PIAA Tournament. He said basketball was his favorite sport growing up but things shifted a few years ago, when he first started playing for the Bulls.
“I’m good at basketball, but it doesn’t compare to how good I am at baseball,” he said.
He’s been batting leadoff for a talented Bulls 16-and-under team that includes Ryker Jones of Wyomissing, Bryce Detwiler of Gov. Mifflin, Aiden Soumas of Fleetwood and Riley Civiello of Conrad Weiser.
Kelsey is batting .417 over 24 games and leads the team with 32 runs scored, 22 stolen bases and six triples.
Sheerin is on the Bulls’ 18-and-under team, along with Minick, Alexander Velez of Gov. Mifflin and Nate Koenig of Wyomissing.
Minick, who is committed to the University of Connecticut, was named Berks Player of the Year after a monster junior season that saw him bat .500, hit a league-leading six home runs and compile a 1.018 slugging percentage.
Minick suffered a strained oblique midway through the playoffs and has been rehabbing throughout the summer but expects to be ready to swing this weekend.
Zdimal, a rising senior, was among Berks League leaders with 50 strikeouts over 40 2/3 innings. He went 3-3 for the Berks II runner-up Raiders with a 1.55 ERA that ranked ninth in the league. The all-division pick is listed on the Pennsylvania roster as a first baseman. He batted .296 with seven doubles and 14 RBIs.
Sheerin, a rising senior, helped pitch the Eagles into the PIAA Class 5A Tournament. He won five games and struck out 84 over 56 2/3 innings. He had a pair of 12-strikeout performances in the District 3 Tournament. He was an all-division pick in Berks I.
Former Oley Valley coach Rick Harrison, now head coach at Spring-Ford, is on the Pennsylvania coaching staff along with Kevin Manero of North Penn and Brian Fili of Strath Haven).
