Luke Maile hits home run in first college at-bat

For the first time, Luke Maile stepped into the batter’s box against a college pitcher in a college game.

Maile, a freshman, had replaced catcher Michael Williams midway through the game against Bowling Green Sunday.  In the bottom of the eight inning, Maile strode to the plate for the first time.

He battled through five pitches.  On the sixth, he unleashed the swing that made him Kentucky Mr. Baseball as a high school senior.  The bat cut through the strike zone, met the ball and sent it hurtling away from him, back, back, back, past the wall, until it finally came to a rest somewhere outside the field of play.

Home run.

The dugout exploded, the crowd erupted and Maile tossed the bat aside and began to trot around the bases.  It would be the first time he touched first base, the first time he touched second base, the first time he touched third base and the first time he touched home plate.  And it all happened at the same time.

“I was gliding,” Maile said.  “It was definitely the most memorable home run I’ve ever hit.  It’s a special day, I’ll remember it for a long time.”

And when his glide was over, he came back to silence, one of those unusual baseball traditions.

“Pretty typical, I got the silent treatment,” Maile said.  “I kind of knew that was going to come by third base.”

And then the celebration began in earnest, high-fives and helmet slaps and smiles all around.

“I ended up getting a bunch of high-fives,” Maile said.  “It was pretty surreal, I mean, I didn’t even realize what happened until I got back into the dugout for five minutes.”

Maile hadn’t planned on hitting a home run his first time up.  Such lofty dreams were not in his mind when he strolled to the plate to begin his career.  After all, there are plenty of other potential endings.  Maybe a ground ball you run out hard, maybe a strikeout on a curveball that made you look foolish, maybe a single that made your hands tingle.

But a home run is the crown jewel for a hitter, and to get that on the first career at-bat is something special.

“In the batter’s box you’re not thinking about how cool it would be to hit one out,” Maile said.  “You’re just trying to approach the at-bat pitch by pitch. I was lucky to get a good pitch and made the most of it.”