Cal Poly’s De Koning trying to make impression in two sports

Because I’m me, I was perusing the roster for the San Luis Obispo Blues for the upcoming Summer season.

Players from the typical solid list of colleges were on the list. The Blues will have players from the Big-12, SEC, and a wide variety of other states and conferences as games begin at Sinsheimer on May 22.

There are also lots of local players who will be on the Blues. I counted three Cuesta College players, seven SLO-county high school alumni, and seven Cal Poly players. Among the Cal Poly players, one name stood out because he isn’t on the baseball team. Yet.

Burton De Koning transferred to Cal Poly from Nevada to play football prior to 2014. Last season, as a junior, De Koning was eighth on the team in tackles (43), and tallied 2.5 tackles for losses and half a sack. But football isn’t the only sport he excelled in as a prep athlete at Folsom High School. In his senior season at Folsom, De Koning was second-team All-League and hit .327 while playing the outfield.

When he visited Cal Poly, head coach Tim Walsh set-up a meeting with baseball coach Larry Lee. This past season, De Koning played on Cal Poly’s club baseball team.

“I was interested in playing baseball at Nevada as well,” said De Koning. “That didn’t work out, so Cal Poly set me up with Larry Lee.”

Burton De Koning figures to be a starter at linebacker for the Cal Poly football team, but he wants to try to make the baseball team as well. By Owen Main

All of that is well and good, but a good high school career and a solid season on a club team aren’t usually routes to get to Cal Poly’s main baseball team. After his meeting with Lee, De Koning has worked on his baseball alongside football this year.

“I’ve been getting in as many [baseball] games as I could, I’ve been playing well. He likes what he sees,” said De Koning. “I got the opportunity to play on the SLO Blues after doing well on the club team… . We’ll just see how it goes.”

The Blues have 36 home games this summer at Sinsheimer Stadium in San Luis Obispo. If things go right, it could be a long enough time for the Cal Poly coaching staff to evaluate De Koning in their own back yard and decide whether he can help their team next season. If he does well in the California Collegiate League, which uses wood bats, De Koning hopes it could earn him a shot for Lee’s team next Spring.

“I just wrote a goal on my white board at home,” said De Koning after the spring football game. “I’m trying to get drafted in both football and baseball a year from now.”

Along with De Koning, current Cal Poly students scheduled to play for the Blues include catcher Brett Barbier, Connor O’Hare, Kyle Peterson, John Schuknecht, and incoming freshmen Robert Ay and Nigel Ward.

Trackbacks

1. Which Cal Poly cager would make the best football player? - Fansmanship says:

   08/14/2015 at 7:55 am

   […] Olympic gold medalist in the discuss. Recently, Burton De Koning was profiled on this site as a guy trying to play both football and baseball. What current Cal Poly athlete comes to mind for you as someone who would be a good crossover […]