Ask any art teacher: what happens when you mix CB East red, Quakertown blue and CB West yellow?
You get Lehigh brown.
This spring, the Mountain Hawks (24-26) offense received significant performances from East infielder Tyler Young, who batted .314 and Quakertown catcher Justin Butler, who thumped seven homers in just 69 at-bats.
“And with the additions of Aidan Quinn and Julio Ermigiotti next year,” said sophomore outfielder Andrew Kohl, pointing out a pair of CB West Bucks playing at, or heading to, South Mountain. “And Jack Hamilton too from CB East.” Lehigh has forged talent from the raw material of the Suburban One League.
“One of the main things I wanted in picking a school was staying close to home,” Kohl shared, “because I wanted my parents to come watch me. The mix of Lehigh being an academic school and close to home was huge. It made the college decision a lot easier.”
Lehigh’s breakout star this spring was CB West grad Kohl. Kohl batted .309 and had a cool even 1.000 OPS. He belted nine homers, second on the team, and drove in 28. He stole six bags and played nearly flawless defense in the outfield, committing just one error.
“I’ve always had a little bit of juice. I just never really knew how to use it,” Kohl explained on his power surge this spring. “I’d always try and hit line drives. This year, I got a couple of more in the air and they kinda went. I didn’t try and change anything mechanically. The homers just came, which was nice.”
Kohl ended his freshman 2022 campaign on an 0-for-20 streak. 2023 couldn’t have been more different out of the gate. He hit .465 with 15 RBIs in Lehigh’s first 11 games.
Kohl won the Patriot League Player of the Week on Feb. 28 after storming the Citadel, batting 6-for-11 with two homers, two doubles and five RBI in the series.
“If you look at my numbers from my freshman year, they weren’t good by any means,” Kohl admitted. “Throughout the fall, we had a whole new coaching staff besides (head) coach (Sean) Leary. They found things I needed to work on and the big thing was the offspeed pitch. That was something I tried to get more comfortable with over the winter. It was literally just learning how to hit it.
“Coming out with a hot start worked well. I tried to stay simple and not do too much,” Kohl continued. “Looking at this year as a whole, I’m happy that I made enough adjustments to improve a little bit, to get some results and do a little bit better than my freshman year. But there is still a lot to clean up.”
Changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes as Jimmy Buffett sang. Kohl spent last summer with the Delray Beach Lightning of the South Florida Collegiate Baseball League. He had a solid start to his summer season but after collecting three hits in a doubleheader, Kohl started an otherworldly stretch where he hit .515 (17-for-33) in 13 games.
The Lightning won the league title, and Kohl batted .308. His average just missed qualifying for eighth in the SFCBL; Kohl knocked six extra-base hits in his 78 games for the Lightning.
“Florida was an opportunity for all of us to go and get out confidence, play every day, get comfortable and work on stuff. It was kids from all over the country and it was a really cool experience,” Kohl shared. “I met a lot of different people and got a lot of different opinions. It was nice going down with teammates and being able to play with them and against them.”
This summer, Kohl stayed local, suiting up for the Trenton Generals of the ACBL. “It will be fun,” he predicted. “I’m playing with a couple of guys from Lehigh so I can stay connected with them.
“I’d like to work on staying consistent, and not get super hot and then super cold,” Kohl noted. “That was definitely the issue this year. I think if I can fix that, it will help us win some more games in conference this year, which will be good.”
Consistency is the great White Whale that all baseball players hunt. But as one Mountain Hawk showed, a hot Kohl can produce a ton of energy.
Join our readers whose generous donations are making it possible for you to read our news coverage. Help keep local journalism alive and our community strong. Donate today.
