Kinkade, Cougs Face Final Innings
Four more games … an outside chance at 18 more at-bats … six or seven more stinging line drives … maybe even one last home run or two.
That could be all that is left of Mike Kinkade’s brilliant college baseball career.
If that turns out to be the case, it may rank as one of the game’s greatest injustices.
Kinkade could end up being remembered as the greatest Washington State University player never to win a league title instead of as a career .361 hitter and the school’s alltime leader in hits (296), runs scored (296) and doubles (74).
It’s a thought that has haunted the senior catcher for the past three seasons.
“The only thing that’s important, really, is winning it - winning the league and getting to play for a regional berth,” Kinkade admitted Wednesday, just prior to a lateafternoon practice session in preparation for this weekend’s huge four-game home series against Oregon State.
“The records? I could care less, to tell you the truth. From day one, my goal was to get to play for a league title and play in the regionals, and we haven’t done that in my four years.”
There is still a chance - a good one, in fact - that Kinkade might realize his dream. WSU leads the North Division of the Pacific-10 Conference.
The Cougars (15-11) are a half-game up on Washington (15-12) and two games ahead of OSU (13-13), which invades Bailey Field Friday at 4 p.m. for the first of two doubleheaders that could decide the division title.
The second doubleheader starts Saturday at 4 p.m. with OSU scheduled to act as the home team in the nightcap, which will be the makeup of a early season rainout in Corvallis, Ore.
Three wins will give WSU its first North Division crown since 1991 and propel the Cougars into a best-of-three playoff at the home of the South Division champions. That series will determine the Pac-10’s automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament.
Even if WSU splits, Washington will have to win all three of its weekend games against Gonzaga to claim the division title.
“This is the biggest series we’ve played in,” Kinkade said. “We’re down to the last four games and we still control our own destiny. We don’t have to depend on what anyone else does. If we just take care of business, we’ll finally get our chance.”
The Cougars had similar chances in each of Kinkade’s first two seasons, but they saw their postseason dreams short-circuited by poor play down the stretch.
Kinkade, despite a torn rotator cuff in his right shoulder, did his best to prevent those disturbing late-season collapses.
As a freshman, he hit .342 and set a Pac-10 North record by reaching base in 13 consecutive at-bats.
The following year, after undergoing surgery, Kinkade hit 364 with seven home runs and a team-high 64 runs scored. He was named to the All-Pac-10 North Division and District Nine first teams.
The Cougars made title runs both years but finished second in 1992 and third in 1993.
Last year proved to be a disaster as the farewell tour of legendary WSU coach Bobo Brayton took center stage and the Cougars stumbled to 11-19 and a fifth-place finish in their division.
One of the few bright spots was the play of Kinkade, who batted a league-high .388 and led the Cougars in nearly every major offensive category.
As a result, the 6-foot-0, 210-pounder was a second-team All-America selection of the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and a third-team pick of Collegiate Baseball and Baseball America magazines.
He also was selected by Milwaukee in the 19th round of the major league draft.
As he entered his senior season, the former prep standout at Tigard (Ore.) High School, was poised to make several new entries in the WSU record books.
With his shoulder healed and his arm strength back to nearly 100 percent, Kinkade has done just that, surpassing Jim Connor as the school’s all-time leader in runs scored and hits. He has also overtaken Tad Thompson as WSU’s career doubles leader and he currently ranks second behind Greg Hunter in at-bats and third behind Kevin Brunstad and Connor in runs batted in.
“He’s just a good athlete,” said first-year Cougars coach Steve Farrington, who recruited Kinkade while he was coaching at Lower Columbia College.
“Obviously, he’s a big factor why we’re in the position we are. He’s held us together and he’s been big in the clutch all year long.”
Heading into the final series of the regular season, Kinkade is hitting .340. He leads the Pac-10 North in RBIs (52) and doubles (16) and ranks fifth in runs scored (39).
But unlike Connor, Thompson, Hunter, Brunstad, Olerud, Monda, Ford and Walker, Mike Kinkade has never played on a league championship team.
And he realizes he is down to one last chance to add that elusive title to his resume.
If it doesn’t happen, will he feel unfulfilled?
“I may, I don’t know,” Kinkade admitted. “I try not to think about it, really. I just want to go out and play and take care of business this weekend.
“If we lose, you can ask me afterward. But even if we do, I won’t have any regrets about coming here. It’s still been worth it just because of the people I’ve met and the experiences I’ve had.”