All-Area Baseball Player of the Year: Shining moment is highlight, springboard for Burroughs’ Nicol
It was a seminal moment in the young career of Burroughs High baseball player Kyle Nicol.
Nicol, a right-handed submarine pitcher, entered the 2016 season as the Indians’ No. 2 pitcher. But it took just one game for the hurler to not only cement himself as the team’s ace, but to establish himself as perhaps the best pitcher in the area.
On a cool night on March 9 at Birmingham High, Nicol turned in a dominant effort on the hill that opened eyes and made him a Division I college prospect.
Against an accomplished Harvard-Westlake team that would go on to play in the CIF Southern Section Division I championship, the senior got the start in the title game of the prestigious Easton Tournament. Nicol was masterful, using a wicked slider and an array of breaking pitches to handcuff the Wolverines and keep them scoreless.
“It still gives me chills when I think about how good he was that night in that game,” Indians catcher Tanner Whitlock said. “Every location I called for in that game, he hit. He was just unreal that game. It was just amazing to see how on he was.”
In going the distance, the right-hander struck out 14 and allowed just two hits in seven innings of work. Burroughs pulled out the win in the bottom of the seventh inning when Jason Whaley lined a bases-loaded single to right field to score pinch-runner Gabriel Pellot to propel the Indians to a 1-0 victory.
“Things just skyrocketed for him after that game,” said Burroughs Coach Craig Sherwood, who taught Nicol to throw submarine style when the athlete was in the fifth grade. “In a showcase like that and, in a game like that, if you do well they, will come find you as far as college is concerned. He did well in that game and they came after him. UCLA, Bakersfield, Santa Barbara, CSUN, they were all trying to get a hold of Kyle the next day.
“He really handled it all very well and he just wanted to find the school that was the right fit for him and where they understand what he does.”
Having the dream of playing on the Division I collegiate level since he was very young, Nicol made that a reality when he signed a letter of intent to Cal State Northridge.
“That was something that I always thought about as a little kid,” said Nicol, who has already begun playing in the Matadors summer program. “And now to see it’s a reality is pretty amazing. Although I thought about playing in college, it really became a good possibility after I pitched in the Easton Tournament final against Harvard-Westlake. That’s when I started getting all the calls and it became a reality for me.
“It was just crazy how many coaches were calling me the next day, all because of that one game.”
Nicol helped Burroughs win a share of its second straight Pacific League championship, was named the co-league player of the year and went on to earn All-CIF Southern Section accolades.
It is because of those accomplishments that Nicol has been voted the 2016 All-Area Baseball Player of the Year by the sportswriters and editor of the Burbank Leader, Glendale News-Press and La Cañada Valley Sun.
As a junior, Nicol didn’t see much time on the mound for the Indians. That’s because the team featured two accomplished starters in All-CIF player Thomas Wilson and all-league honoree Danny Bustos. Nicol saw action in just eight games, logging 10 2/3 innings with 13 strikeouts.
“We had two good pitchers, so I just tried to do the best job that I could when I went into the game,” Nicol said. “When they graduated, I just tried to work as hard as I could to hopefully be ready for the season. I’ve been playing baseball pretty much year-round to try and get better. I think I played games in 11 of the 12 months of the year.”
From the start of his senior season, Nicol proved himself a worthy commodity for the Indians. The senior had a 7-2 record and threw 56 2/3 innings. He had 66 strikeouts and 14 walks with a 1.48 earned-run average.
“That kid is nothing but confident,” Whitlock said. “He goes out there to win every single game and he is such a competitor. ...He really doesn’t say much when he’s on the mound, but I can just see that fire in him whenever he pitches.
“He put in a lot of hard work from his junior season to his senior season so he could earn that starting spot for us. He really earned everything that he got.”
Nicol helped Burroughs to a 19-7 record and a 12-2 showing in league. The Indians shared the title with Crescenta Valley. It was the first time in program history that the Indians captured back-to-back league crowns.
Nicol was named the co-Pacific League Player of the Year along with Crescenta Valley senior shortstop Ryan Lynch, and his season was punctuated when Nicol was named to the All-CIF Division II second team.
“The last two years with this team, with what we were able to accomplish with the two league titles and tournament win, it’s been a great experience,” Nicol said. “It was great to go through it with such a great group of guys.
“Now that I’m at Northridge, I just want to keep working hard and hopefully I’ll be able to be successful there as well.”
