BUZZARDS BAY, Mass. — Kyle Kennedy, a Nonnewaug grad, has been named to the Massachusetts Maritime Academy Athletic Hall of Fame where he completed his college sports career through four seasons, 2013-16.

A relief pitcher and finally a closer, Kennedy was named an All-Conference MASCAC player in his sophomore and junior years, was part of the Buccaneers' conference championship team and the D3Baseball Academic All-District team, and in his senior year was on the D3Baseball.com National Team of the Week, a team captain and the MMA Male Athlete of the Year.

Still, the Hall of Fame selection was unexpected.

"It's an honor," Kennedy said. "The MMA experience was great for me. I'm very grateful for this."

Eligibility for the Athletics Hall of Fame is based on athletic ability as demonstrated by performance. Personal integrity, good character, academic achievement and high standards of sportsmanship are also factored in. Kennedy graduated in 2016 and was eligible to be inducted five years thereafter.

"Mass Maritime was a good fit for me," he said. "I wanted to play baseball, the academy has a great career placement program and it was a school close to the ocean, which is a big part of my life. I'm an avid fisherman." He said that on Sunday morning while driving toward Cape Cod, "I'm going fishing right now close to the Cape."

He said Massachusetts Maritime "is not a normal college, there's an obligation, a strict schedule. I was fully committed."

The team he started with as a freshman ran an 11-19 record. "We went from there with perseverance and leadership and teamwork," he said. "In my senior year, that core group had a 24-16 record and we made it to the conference championship.

"The teamwork and camaraderie we felt over those four years was just exceptional and our coaches, Bob Corradi and Mike Kelly, were just awesome. I still keep in touch with them and some of the seniors on our team."

Kelly was the head coach in Kennedy's last year. "He really evolved over his four years," he said, "coming in as a quiet and reserved freshman. 

"Whenever he was on the mound, he was transformed into a different person. He was like a bulldog who would battle out there on the mound and really excel when the pressure was on in big situations.

"Toward the latter part of his career at MMA we used him as a closer. I remember in the conference championship game, the other team had no outs and the bases loaded and he pitched us out of it. He forced an extra game in the elimination series. He came on to close with no outs.

"Kyle was an unbelievable kid on and off the field. He really wanted his teammates to excel as much as he wanted his own success; he was the epitome of a good teammate – a coach's dream, really."

In Kennedy's senior year, he had a 5-1 record after appearing in 22 games, with a 1.83 ERA and five saves, including all three of MMA's wins in the MASCAC playoffs. In his 65 career games, he had a 15-6 record with a 1.89 ERA and 12 saves. That ERA stands as a record.

MMA's career programming put Kennedy in three internships in his facilities engineering major, and the last offered him a job before the internship ended as the general manager of a wastewater recycling company in East Taunton, Mass. "It's a small company, like a family, and it's a great fit for me," he said.

After college, Kennedy did some throwing for the Watertown Blaze in the Tri-State Baseball League and then joined the Bourne Mariners in the Cranberry Baseball League until a shoulder injury finished that.

Late in February, he proposed to his girlfriend, Emily, at her parents' home in New Hampshire. She's an auditor for PricewaterhouseCoopers.

"I kind of surprised her," he said.

Kennedy is in the 2022 Class of five people who will be inducted to the Hall of Fame at 5 p.m. Friday, September 16, on campus.