By: Edward Kensik, Correspondent / Record Sports
A Rutherford baseball player is going to follow a school legend to one of the top college baseball programs in the country.
Rutherford incoming senior shortstop/pitcher John Kelly gave a verbal commitment to attend Oklahoma State University, which has made 20 NCAA Division 1 College World Series appearances, the sixth most in the country, in the 2018-19 season.
One of the assistant coaches at OSU is Rob Walton, who was a three-sport star at Rutherford High School. This includes baseball, where he was an all-state baseball player for the Bulldogs in the early 80s.
Kelly, who has been named to the All-NJIC Colonial Division first team as a sophomore and junior, actually sort of fell into deciding on OSU by accident.
While trying to determine where he would go to college, the incoming Rutherford senior decided to give Walton a call for some advice.
“At first I thought OSU was out of my league so I contacted Rob Walton for some tips on the recruiting process,” said Kelly. “I showed him some film of myself pitching and he said that I looked good enough to play for them. He came up to see me pitch. I went down to see their campus and that’s when I started to gain more and more interest in the school.”
Walton is a former Oklahoma State University player and also has coached at the school for the last five years after coaching at Oral Roberts University and Tulsa University. As the Cowboys pitching coach, he was named the top assistant coach in the nation last season.
In addition, there is a personal connection with Kelly and Walton. John Kelly’s father, Paul, is a friend of Walton.
“Rob Walton has had lots of experience and success as a player and coach for many years,” said John Kelly. “With him being a RHS alumni and long time friend of my father was a factor because I trust him as a coach and as a person. There aren’t many players that have a personal connection to the guy that will be working with them for all four years of their college career.”
For Kelly, he looked at several colleges before choosing Oklahoma State over the likes of Maryland and Virginia Tech. He said that part of the reason he chose Oklahoma State was the team’s winning history.
“In all there were about 25 Division 1 schools that I had been in contact with at some point in the summer,” said Kelly. “The OSU baseball program couldn’t have been a better fit for me. They’re a winning program in one of best conferences in college baseball. I loved the coaching staff and everything they had to offer me as an athlete. I felt that I would get my best chance at my dream of playing in the big leagues out of OSU. Also, the campus environment is rather slow and much easier for students to focus on what we need to do.”
On the mound, Kelly was one of the reasons that the Bulldogs shared the NJIC Colonial Division championship last season as well as making the North 2, Group 2 state title game. He was 4-0 with a 1.20 ERA with 59 strikeouts in only 35 innings pitched. And with the stick, Kelly hit .391 while leading the team in triples with three and second on the team in RBI with 22.
For Rutherford head coach Carmen Spina, he is very excited to about Kelly’s decision and he even expects more from Kelly next spring for Rutherford.
“We’re very proud of him,” said Spina. “It shows what great work ethic and desire can do for you. We expect him to be one of the best players in the state next year.”
Kelly gave credit to his Rutherford coach for his success on the mound.
“Last year, Coach Spina did a very good job working me into the rotation and slowly increasing my pitch count,” said John Kelly. “That was huge because my arm was ready to go during states and the summer when I really needed it.”
For Oklahoma State, Kelly’s speed velocity was what really piqued their interest that has topped out at 93 miles per hour.
“The first thing that usually catches a coaches’ eye is my velocity,” said the Rutherford hurler. “When they found out how hard I threw, they went on to look at my mechanics, athleticism and character. They said that I had everything in favor for them to be able to easily develop me into the best possible pitcher that I can be.”
During the summer, John Kelly played for the local Wladyka Baseball American team.
The Rutherford hurler said that Jim Wladyka worked with his pitching and allowed him to pitch in front of college coaches. Kelly added that he was working on his change-up and developing a cutter which he used as a sophomore while being a reliever for the Bulldogs.
“The whole focus between Jim (Wladyka) and I was to make the transition from being a thrower to being a pitcher,” said John Kelly. “We worked on tempo and delivery while utilizing my athleticism.”
