'Looking Forward to Keeping Things Moving'
One of the players that South Jersey baseball fans will be monitoring at the next level is recent West Deptford graduate Cole McKenna. A shortstop-pitcher, McKenna is taking his talents to Division I Old Dominion.
That is where his West Deptford coach John Oehler played, known for being the catcher when a fairly good pitcher was striking people out by the dozens by the name of Justin Verlander, a sure-fire future MLB Hall of Famer.
This past season McKenna batted .412 with three home runs and 28 RBI for a West Deptford team that advanced to the South Jersey Group 2 semifinals before losing to eventual sectional champion Haddonfield.
McKenna was also a standout pitcher, going 4-3 with a 3.19 ERA and 44 strikeouts in 41.2 innings.
He was a four-year varsity performer with a .319 career batting average.
Coming from a baseball family, he is the son of Sean McKenna, who starred at Gloucester Catholic and then Nebraska. Sean McKenna who was a catcher, batted .544 his senior year at Gloucester Catholic in 1989.
He also had a .301 career batting average at Nebraska and was inducted into the Hotstovers South Jersey Baseball Hall of Fame in 2019.
Cole points to his father for his own success.
“He has been my hitting coach my whole life,” McKenna said earlier this summer after competing in the Carpenter Cup for the Olympic-Colonial team that won a game, before being eliminated in the quarterfinals. “He’s the best hitting coach I know.”
Cole McKenna has also been helped by his brother Shea McKenna, who this past season as a sophomore hit .368 playing for McDaniel College, a Division III school in Westminster, Maryland.
“My brother has helped me," he said. "Playing up with my brother just helped me over time."
Cole McKenna has enjoyed his time at West Deptford, which has zoomed by so quickly.
“I had a great time during my four years,” he said. “I played with my brother two of those years, which was really special. We have a great program, a great head coach, all the coaching staff, it’s been great.”
By finishing his career at the Carpenter Cup, he also followed a family tradition since his father and brother also played in the 16-team all-star tournament sponsored by the Phillies.
Now McKenna is looking forward to the next level.
He said he was recruited by Old Dominion as an infielder, but isn’t discounting the chance to pitch if he is asked.
“I am a shortstop originally, but I will get on the mound if I need to,” he said.
He departed for Old Dominion in late June, to take a summer class and also train with the other baseball players.
“I am just so excited,” he said. “I am looking forward to keeping things moving.”
Photo: Cole McKenna pitching for the Olympic-Colonial in the Carpenter Cup / Marc Narducci
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Author: Marc Narducci
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