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Webster's Kent Named to Prospect League All-Star Game

Webster's Kent Named to Prospect League All-Star Game

Webster University senior-to-be first baseman Kyler Kent (Pottsboro, Texas/Pottsboro) has been selected to the Prospect League All-Star Game that is scheduled for Tuesday, July 22 at the Corn Crib in Normal. Ill. The Prospect League's All-Star Game will begin at 7:05 p.m.
 
Kent, who is playing this summer for the Hannibal Hoots in the Prospect League, was one of 30 players from the West Division of the Prospect League selected to participate in this year's All-Star Game. The West Division All-Stars will face the East Division All-Stars in Tuesday's game.
 
In fact, Kent is one of four All-Stars chosen from the Hannibal Hoots to play in this year's Prospect League All-Star Game.
 
On the summer, Kent, who was named an All-American as a sophomore in 2018 and was a Second-Team All-St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference selection this past season is hitting just .229 for Hannibal. In 30 games, Kent has recorded 25 hits, scored 16 runs, hit three doubles, four home runs and has had 17 RBI for the Hoots. His four home runs are tied for third-most on the team, while his 25 hits are also fourth-most on the squad.
 
Kent opened the summer with Hannibal with a hot bat as he recorded 15 hits in his first 37 at-bats as he was hitting .405 with an OPS of 1.083 through the first 10 games of the season. Since that hot streak to open the summer, Kent has recorded just 10 hits in his last 72 at-bats. He has had eight multi-hit games this summer and has scored at least one run in 13 of the 30 games he has played in.
 
Kent's team, Hannibal, is currently sporting a 14-25 overall record in the West Division of the Prospect League and the Hoots are 13.5 games behind the Cape Girardeau Catfish, who are leading the West Division standings with a 29-13 record. The Prospect League, which is a wood bat league, began when the long-running Central Illinois Collegiate League (CICL) merged with several expansion franchises, reorganized and rebranded as the Prospect League prior to the 2009 season. The season runs from June until August as the teams will play 60 regular-season games and the top two teams in each division advance to the playoffs.
 
Since the league began in 1962, the Prospect League has had over 175 former players play in the major leagues. Among some of the key former Prospect League players that have played in MLB include Phil Bradley, Norm Charlton, Jim Dwyer, Gary Gaetti, Joe Girardi, Ryan Howard, Art Howe, Roger McDowell, Keith Moreland, Joe Niekro, Jonathan Papelbon, Kirby Puckett, Dan Quisenberry, Mike Schmidt, and Kevin Seitzer.
 
Along with Kent, the Hannibal team features three other Gorlok players as graduate Adrian Santiago (Chicago, Ill./Oakton CC), junior-to-be pitcher Sean Beaver (San Diego, Calif./Scripps Ranch) and junior-to-be All-American third baseman Ben Swords (Freeport, Ill./Freeport) are also playing this summer for the Hoots.
 
Santiago has made five appearances on the mound, including one start and is 1-2 with a 5.29 ERA. In 17 innings of work, he has struck out 21 and walked 15, while Beaver has made one appearance and one start and in that one start on July 11 against Springfield, he tossed four shutout innings and allowed just three hits, while striking out six and walking none and Swords played in 13 games and was hitting .310 with three doubles, two home runs, and 10 RBI before suffering an injury on June 26 against DuPage that ended his summer.
 
As a junior in 2019, Kent hit .295 as he finished with 54 hits, 36 runs scored, had six doubles, seven home runs, 41 RBI and was 9-for-13 in stolen bases. In addition, he was second on the team in multi-hit games with 16 and was also second in multiple-RBI games with 12 and enters the 2020 campaign sitting tied for 10th in career home runs (13), 14th in career hits (147), tied for 15th in career RBI (89) on the school's all-time charts. As a sophomore in 2018, Kent hit .428 on the season as he had a single-season school record 83 hits and also scored 44 runs, hit 17 doubles, hit six home runs and had 46 RBI. His .355 career batting average is 15th on the school's all-time charts.
 
Kent helped lead the Gorloks to a 37-13 overall record and an appearance in the 2019 NCAA Division III World Series in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Along the way in 2019, Webster took home its 13th consecutive SLIAC regular-season title and also it's second consecutive and 10th all-time SLIAC Tournament title. Additionally, the Gorloks also captured both the Whitewater, Wis., Regional and Midwest Super Regional titles. Webster ended the season ranked sixth and seventh respectively in the final ABCA/Collegiate Baseball and D3Baseball.com polls. 

STORY COURTESY OF WEBSTER UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION