George Washington University Athletics
Catching Up with Kevin Mahala
7/13/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
It has been a whirlwind few weeks for former George Washington baseball player and recent MLB Draft Pick Kevin Mahala.
Since being selected by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 18th round of the Major League Baseball Draft on July 11, the second Colonial selected by the Pirates in a row after Shane Kemp in 2015, Mahala has signed a professional contract and has appeared in 15 games for the West Virginia Black Bears, a Class A affiliate of the Pirates.
For Mahala, it is still hard to believe that he has achieved his lifetime goal of playing professional baseball. The simple act of a phone call changed his life.
"I was at my little brother's state championship baseball game and about 10 minutes after they had won, I got a call from the Pirates informing me that they would be taking me in the next round," said Mahala. "It was an extremely surreal moment as I had a lot of family, former high school teammates and coaches around me after I found out. I was almost in shock. Shortly after my phone started to blow up with texts and calls. It was a really cool moment because family, friends, high school alumni and even people I have never met were coming up to me to congratulate me. It was just an awesome day and place to find out that I had been drafted."
After the phone call, Mahala's day was not over. He had a serious decision to make. Return to GW for his senior season and help his teammates achieve the goal of winning an Atlantic 10 Championship, or sign with the Pirates and begin his professional career immediately.
"I discussed the decision with my family at length that evening," said Mahala. "It was a very difficult decision because of all of the great relationships I had created with my teammates, coaches and friends over the years at GW. I was obviously torn with forgoing my last year at GW, but playing professional baseball has always been a dream of mine and this was too good an opportunity to pass up."
Improvements in Mahala's game led to a standout junior season as he hit .286 with four home runs and a team-best 47 RBIs in 55 games. His 20 doubles led the team and ranked second in the Atlantic 10 while standing as the third most in a single season in program history.
"For the most part, I am glad with the strides that I made offensively in 2016," said Mahala. "I started off swinging the bat really well against some very solid non-conference pitchers and that gave me a lot of confidence. A lot of the guys that we faced were selected in the draft this year and facing that caliber of pitching has definitely helped prepare me for the guys that I will be facing in the future."
As of July 13, Mahala has appeared in 15 games for the West Virginia Black Bears, the Class A Short Season affiliate of the Pirates. Primarily a shortstop at GW, he has also seen time at third base and second base in the first month of the season. The New York-Penn league is a short season league where teams will play an accelerated season of 74 games in 70 days. Mahala is batting .283 (13-for-46) with one double, one triple, six RBIs and four walks.
The season will conclude in mid-September and then Mahala will temporarily relocate to the Pirates' spring training facility in Bradenton, Florida, for additional instructional work. Wherever his new journey will take him, Mahala will always look back at George Washington as a key step in his advancement as a player.
"I have to credit the baseball coaching staff and the strength and conditioning staff for really pushing me in my development during my time at GW," said Mahala. "When I came into GW, playing professional baseball was just a fantasy for me. Coach Ritchie always believed that I could play at this level before I even believed in myself. Coach Ritchie was incredibly helpful in completely helping me understand my swing and developing a better approach at the plate. I will definitely take what I learned with him to this level, When I came into GW as a freshman I was a third baseman and pitcher, but the coaching staff thought I would be able to make the switch over to shortstop. They were very patient with my development at shortstop and Coach Dave Lorber was very helpful in my development."
