Coming off a remarkable senior season, Jake Kennedy made news yesterday by announcing that he has committed to Oklahoma State University. Kennedy was previously committed to Cowley Community College but saw his opportunity to play D-1 baseball and jumped at that opportunity.
Kennedy, as mentioned before, is coming off of an absolutely incredible senior season for the Enid Plainsmen. Kennedy started a number of games at David Allen Memorial Ballpark and put on a show almost every time. Jake on the mound this past season started 8 games and finished with a 5-1 record with 1.34 ERA with 70 strikeouts over 47 innings of work (that’s a K/9 or strikeout per nine inning of 13.4). Kennedy even managed to pick up a save for the Plainsmen in his only relief opportunity last season. Numbers like those are absolutely ridiculous. And to do it against some of of Oklahoma’s best in 6A…that’s even more ridiculous. And his senior season had two appearances from Jake in particular that he and Plainsmen games will never forget.
The first appearance I’m referencing is, of course, the Bixby game. Back on April 10, on a cool night at David Allen Memorial Ballpark, Jake was called on to take on the #1 team in the state in 6A, the Bixby Spartans. Enid was looking to get back into the race for the district title and looked to Kennedy to deliver that win. Kennedy started dealing early and never stopped. Kennedy was hitting corners and getting strikeouts left and right. Through 3 innings, Jake had 7 strikeouts and everyone at David Allen Memorial Ballpark felt like they were in for something special that night. And special it was as Jake went on to strike out 14 batters while allowing just 1 hit throughout the entire game. Again, this is against the #1 team in the state! 3 of the Spartans starters were D-1 recruits. It was going to be hard to top that performance, but Jake managed to one up that performance in the State Quarterfinal.
Jake’s leadership helped lead the Plainsmen to their 2nd straight trip to the State Tournament and Jake was called on in the Quarterfinals to try and get the Plainsmen to the Semifinals. And once again, Jake delivered in a big way. Kennedy went out and threw a no-hitter in the State Quarterfinal against a talented Westmoore team to send the Plainsmen to the Semifinal. Kennedy finished with 10 strikeouts in 6 innings of work (game was called in bottom of the 6th for the run rule). Kennedy did have 7 walks in that game but still…a no-hitter is a no-hitter! And to do that on the biggest stage is truly remarkable.
Jake gets a lot of attention for his pitching (and rightfully so). However, Jake was also a producer with the bat in his hand. In 35 games, Kennedy compiled a .387 batting average (3rd highest on the Plainsmen) with 29 RBIs (4th highest on the team). Jake also showed off some speed during his senior campaign as he finished the season with 13 stolen bases.
Jake, throughout the season and throughout his high school career, was called on by head coach Brad Gore to shut down some of the toughest teams in the state of Oklahoma. More times than not, Jake delivered. CTB Sports reached out to coach Brad Gore (who is an OSU hall of famer) for comment on Jake and his commitment to OSU. He said, “He (Jake) is a great young man. A true competitor. Every time he took the mound, we had a good chance to win.”
Jake wowed fans across the state with his power fastball and filthy change-up. There were a number of times when the Plainsmen were on the road, fans would approach us before the game asking, “Is that kid pitching?” We knew who they were referring to and fans would breathe a major sigh of relief if we told them Jake wasn’t going on that particular night. Getting to see Kennedy in a Plainsmen uniform was a real treat, and we can’t wait to see what he will be able to accomplish in Stillwater. The Cowboys are getting a good one.
