BYU Baseball Game on March 14, 2015. Photo Taken by Author
“I’ll come,” recalled BYU Baseball Coach Mike Littlewood on BYU Sports Nation. “As long as I have number 7,” he remembers being told by Kyle Dean.
Kyle Dean is a recent signee for BYU. The 6-2 outfielder from San Diego has almost received too many accolades to even list, but the more prominent recognition includes All American awards and a rating by Perfect Game as the number one outfielder in California. He was selected as a participant in the 2014 Under Armour All-American game and also played in the All-Star Classic at Wrigley Field. He was also a member of the USA Baseball U15 National Team and he has played on numerous Major League Baseball scout teams including the New York Yankees, Baltimore Orioles, and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Dean was also recruited by several schools, including Oregon, LSU, Arizona, Texas, North Carolina, UCLA, Virginia, and Arkansas.
BYU Baseball Game on March 6, 2015. Photo taken by author.
The pickup of Dean leads now to the loss of Kolton Mahoney to the MLB Draft. Mahoney, who just finished his junior year, was also drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in 2014 during the 23rd round, but chose to return to BYU; and this year he was picked in the 16th round by the New York Yankees.
The six-foot junior right-hander out of West Point, Utah struck out 91 hitters in 85.1 innings and 23 appearances in 2015.
He was named the Pitcher of the Week by Collegiate Baseball as well as WCC Pitcher of the Week when he struck out 15 hitters in a game against Portland during the season.
“He’s ready,” said Coach Littlewood regarding Mahoney’s opportunity for the MLB.
BYU Baseball returns most of the team’s components next year including Freshman All-American Colton Shaver, but in addition to Mahoney, will miss Seniors Jeff Barker, Andy Isom, Jarret Jarvis, Brandon Kinser, James Lengal, Dillon Robinson and Parker Starr.