Focusing On Being A Pitcher Proves Beneficial For Roberts

MONROE - The decision to put his full attention on being a pitcher has paid off for Kellen Roberts with a commitment to Evansville.

“Up until last year I was primarily a middle infielder,” the Monroe High School senior said. “This past summer with Arsenal I put my focus on pitching. I saw my rapid development with pitching and that I was able to get guys out.”

After seeing the 16th-rated 2023 right-handed pitcher in the state of Michigan a year ago at the Tournament of Champions in Cincinnati, Evansville witnessed what Roberts could do on the mound again this past August at the same event.

“I pitched one of my better games all summer,” Roberts revealed. “All of my pitches were working. After the game Evansville reached out and I ended up going on a visit.”

The trip to Indiana went “great” in the eyes of the 17-year-old.

“They started off showing me a bunch of classrooms and the support they have for the business program,” Roberts explained. “Academics is huge for me.”

There was more that stood out about the university that is located a little more than six hours away from his home in southeast Michigan.

“The school itself was really nice, and the coaches were great,” Roberts noted. “It was nice having all of them there and interacting with my whole family. I thought that was awesome.”

Roberts, whose college interest prior to Evansville was from Davenport and Monmouth, received an offer on the visit.

“I sat down to dinner with my parents after that and we talked over the pros and cons,” the 47th-ranked senior in Michigan related. “There were a ton of pros and no cons except that it was six hours away and my mom is going to miss me. After that I called and said I was ready to become an Ace.”

Evansville saw a lot to admire about the 6-0 185-pounder.

“They liked my projectability and that I’m able to put on size,” Roberts said. “They liked that my spin rate is high and that I throw a high percentage of strikes with a lot of swings and misses.”

Improvement over the past year helped make it all become a reality.

“Definitely my mentality has gotten better,” Roberts pointed out. “My velo was lower and that’s picked up. By working on mechanics in the offseason, I’m now able to hit my spots better.”

Roberts gave credit to John Kessling, pitching coach for his summer Spikes team, with playing a key role in his velocity going from 82-84 topping at 85 last year to 85-89 this year.

“Going into 16U summer ball is when I started thinking about college baseball,” Roberts explained. “Until then I was playing for fun. I’d always loved baseball but didn’t see myself playing college baseball. But my coaches saw my potential if I put in the work, I did more than ever before after hearing that and it paid off.”

Admittedly, the recruiting process did not go smoothly.

“It really had ups and downs this past year,” Roberts noted. “I went to a bunch of PBR events and sent out data. I got a lot of positive feedback from coaches, but then things settled down. But this summer it picked back up.”

With a commitment official, Roberts is confident about making an impact at the Missouri Valley Conference school.

“I definitely feel I can bring a lot of success on the mound,” expressed Roberts, a 3.91 student at Monroe who is planning to major in business. “I’m a huge teammate guy who will make sure the energy is there and that everyone is playing well so at the end of the season we’re playing for a regional.”

To be part of a college team has Roberts exuberant about what lies ahead at Evansville.

“I’m looking forward to becoming real close with the guys I’m going to be playing with for the next four years and building a strong relationship with them,” Roberts concluded. “It will be fun playing other programs that have had great success. I can’t wait to put the jersey on and go out and play baseball well.”