Bagnell to pitch at OSU

POLSON - Kelly Bagnell said she had a moment of panic when she and son Kyle arrived last July 15 at the DeMarini Top 96 College Coaches Baseball Clinic in Las Vegas.

July 1 was the first contact period for coaches and athletes, she learned.

Most coaches like to see an athlete three times before they offer a scholarship. By July 15, many of coaches on hand already had their list of recruits in mind.

"‘Am I too late?'" she asked a nearby coach.

She was told they'd let Kyle pitch to his six batters - the same as the other pitchers.

He struck out five. The sixth hit a blooper which Kyle picked up and threw the kid out at first.

That same coach Kelly had talked to earlier came running up the bleachers to tell her "‘you aren't too late! I want to see him at East Carolina!'"

Bagnell, a senior at Polson, officially signed late last week with Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Okla.

He will receive partial tuition and books.

"It felt like the right place. I liked the academics and where they are taking the baseball program," Kyle said.

Kyle intends to go to medical school and hopes to someday become an oral maxillofacial surgeon.

"It's a big time relief to have it done and know what I'm doing. It takes a lot of stress off. Now I can just be getting done with being a senior," he added.

"(Oklahoma State) was huge. The place was crazy. They had pretty much everything you could imagine," he said.

The Montana to Oklahoma distance doesn't seem to bother either Kelly or Kyle.

"I'm thrilled to death," Kelly said.

"It's a big opportunity for him to go play Division I baseball. They are in the Top 25 every year," she said.

"My husband (Tim) and I are real excited. We just want it to be a great opportunity for him. Your kids always dream of playing at a Division I school somewhere. How can you not want your kid to have that?" she said.

"If he comes back here, I'll be thrilled. But I want him to live his own life," she said.

"It's a long way, but a couple plane rides will get you where you need to go. (My parents) are fine with it. I think they're just as excited as I am. It's a nice school," Kyle said.

"I think it will be all right. It's going to be different, for sure. But I think it will be a good place. I can't wait. It's going to be exciting," he said.

And it might not have happened.

Kyle made the All-State American Legion baseball team last year and has been the Mission Valley Mariners defensive player of the year for the past two seasons.

He threw two no-hitters last summer and struck out 20 batters in one game.

But Montana doesn't have high school baseball.

"If I hadn't taken him to Las Vegas, he wouldn't have been seen," Kelly Bagnell said.

"Not having high school baseball makes it very tough," Kyle said.

"The more they can get out there, the better. They need to be seen the summer before their junior year. If they are really talented, they will let you know at these camps," Kelly said.

"Every one of those coaches contacted him," she said.

East Carolina, Nebraska and Oregon State were among the schools Kyle talked with seriously - and he struggled between Kansas and Oklahoma State.

"He agonized for weeks. It was really hard," his mom said.

But in the end, he chose Oklahoma State and coach Frank Anderson.

Anderson's own son is a left-handed pitcher drafted out of high school who is now playing for the Oakland Athletics.

"(All the schools) had pretty much anything you wanted. I thought coach Anderson was a really good guy. His son was a lefty. Obviously he did good with him," he said.

He will report to the team next fall and will participate in the team's fall program.