Sid Kumar is going to have to forego the Jersey Shore this Memorial Day weekend for an all-expense paid to trip to…
Enid, Oklahoma?
Kumar wouldn’t have it any other way.
Kumar, pictured at right, and his Mercer County Community College baseball team swept two straight games from Community College of Baltimore County Essex on May 20, propelling them to the National Junior College Athletic Association Division II World Series for the second time in three years. MCCC left on May 26 for a flight to Dallas, and then bussed to Enid, the site of the World Series.
“It’s going to be insane,” Kumar said. “It’s like a whole big festival. The whole town comes to the games. It’s at a minor league stadium and it’s going to be that kind of atmosphere. It’s going to be crazy. It’s going to be new to some of us. [Coach Kevin Kerins] said the stands are going to be packed.”
Sounds like it might be easy to get lost in the euphoria, but Kumar said that will not be the case.
“We’re focused on what we have to do between the lines,” he said. “Same game. Different state. It’s still three strikes, three outs.”
Kumar learned early on, however, that the college game is different from the high school game. But he learned well: The High School North graduate batted a team-high .441 while platooning at first base and designated hitter.
In 59 at-bats, Kumar had 26 hits, including five doubles and three home runs, and 26 RBI. He also led the team in on-base percentage (.575) and slugging percentage (.712).
“Sid’s come a long way,” Kerins said. “I think things were moving very fast for him in the fall. We played 20 games, had 60 practices. He needed that fall season to get adjusted to the speed of college baseball.”
The coach said that is pretty much the norm for freshmen who come to Mercer, which has become a consistent national power.
“Our practices are extremely competitive,” Kerins said. “Not just Sid, but a lot of freshmen are used to being the big fish at their high school. When you get here, if you don’t have a good practice, you may not have a good game. It’s just a matter of getting used to college and a new coaching staff, how they want things done, and the speed they want it done at.”
Kumar admitted things were tough. He was a star for the West Windsor Little League and Babe Ruth League, as well as with North.
When he showed up at MCCC, it was like being caught in a whirlwind.
“I struggled a lot in the fall,” Kumar said. “Coach Kerins got on me about my approach and a lot of mental stuff about the game. Coach (Fred) Carella taught me the difference in college pitching. He talked to me a lot in the off-season. We worked on a couple of things, so when I came into the season it all came natural.”
Kumar’s problems stemmed from wanting to continue to be a slugger, much like he was at North.
“When you’re a freshman you want to prove yourself right away,” he said. “Especially if you hit for power in high school. You want to come into college and do the same thing.”
During the fall Kumar was too stiff at the plate. He was instructed to keep the barrel of the bat deep and throw his hands toward the baseball and not try to do too much, just hit the ball up the middle.
“If I try to swing hard, the ball won’t go anywhere,” he said. “The velocity is so much better at this level, so you just have to swing nice and easy and the ball will go. It’s been working real well. I noticed a difference in the first game.”
Kerins felt that with Kumar’s build, he didn’t have to try to do too much.
“He’s got tremendous size and physical ability,” the coach said. “He’s an absolute moose. He’s huge. He has extreme strength and he bought into our coaching. A lot of guys try to hit home runs. He gets up there and tries to hit for average. He bought into that change and adjusted to the pitching.”
One thing that never wavered was Kumar’s confidence. His biggest opponent was himself.
“I never felt like I was getting overmatched,” said Kumar, whose mother, Vani Pradeep, is a stay-at-home mom and whose dad, Pradeep Kumar, is a computer engineer. “I knew I was just getting into my own head. I kept feeling I needed to do too much when all I really needed was an up-the-middle approach; nothing too crazy.”
Kumar missed several games during the season with a shoulder issue, so the staff monitored him closely once he came back. It may have accounted for fewer at-bats than he would have gotten had he remained healthy.
“He’s still having a great year for us,” Kerins said. “After the fall he was able to see the ball a lot clearer and was putting good swings on it. He’s shown flashes of draftable power and hits for a good average.”
Kumar’s season has not come as a surprise to teammate Austin Constantini, who played against him throughout high school at Steinert.
“Sid’s huge, he’s a big guy, but he’s the nicest guy ever,” Constantini said. “Sid was always a good hitter. Every time I played him, he hit the ball hard.”
Kumar is also teammates with another ex-Spartan, Anthony Peroni. The two crossed paths numerous times, with the most noteworthy being in the 2013 Babe Ruth SNJ State Tournament championship game.
Peroni’s Nottingham team had a one-run lead before WW-P got a two-out, two-run walk-off single to win it all.
“We laugh about it sometimes…well, I laugh about it,” Kumar said. “When we warm up on the field we talk about it. He laughs, but in the back of his head I think he’s kind of mad at the same time.”
Another member of the winning team that year was North grad Christian Waters, who was having a tremendous sophomore season for MCCC before his season ended due to arm surgery.
“It’s the first time I’ve ever seen him hurt, and I’ve been playing with him since we were eight years old,” Kumar said. “We would have catches in the backyard together. It was a big blow to our pitching staff.”
Waters finished 6-1 with a 3.86 ERA and 28 strikeouts in 25.2 innings. He was one of four MCCC pitchers whose seasons were cut short due to surgery.
“Christian had a great high school career, then came into Mercer had a phenomenal year this year,” Kerins said. “We were counting on him for big innings. A lot of Division I and Division II schools were calling and asking about him. It’s unfortunate what happened, but he’s gotten a ton of interest. I think he’ll end up in a really good spot.”
