EXETER — Kole Kilduff’s curveball leaves anxious righties helpless.
Batters know the breaking ball is looping back into the zone to nick the inside corner, but anticipating the pitch is a dangerous effort.
It’s his go-to delivery when the sophomore is in a jam — which rarely happens — but the fastball is also in his pocket. And his plate approach as a two-way player for Exeter-West Greenwich is beyond his years manning the three-hole for the Scarlet Knights.
Kilduff has gap potential and displayed both his pitching prowess and power against Pawtucket on Tuesday at Wawaloam School. With runners on second and third, the only true traffic Kilduff faced, he returned with a fastball high and got Pawtucket to chase for the second out in the inning.
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Kilduff then landed the curveball in the zone to set the table for the final out in the frame. A fastball caught Pawtucket looking for strike two, and a second off-speed delivery ended the inning and Pawtucket’s chance to plate a run against the righty.
Kilduff’s excellence in the 10-0 victory in a matchup of Division III contenders isn’t surprising to Exeter-West Greenwich. He’s already thrown a no-hitter this season against Classical — a 1-0 win in which Kilduff had the only run batted in. His one hit allowed over six innings and his seven-strikeout performance against Pawtucket just adds to his already ridiculous spring.
“It’s the best feeling — every catcher is going to inwardly laugh,” Kilduff’s battery mate, Tyler Muniz, said of the dizzying curveball. “That's the best feeling when you see a batter freeze. It sucks when it happens to you but it happens to everyone. That is really nice though when it happens especially for strike three.”
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Kilduff boasts a 0.30 ERA over 23.1 innings pitched this season and has allowed just six hits. The Knights are 3-1 in his starts and are in the thick of the division race after finishing as runners-up last spring.
“I’ve just tried having the right mindset and know that I can trust my teammates behind me,” Kilduff said of his early success. “I know I don’t have to strike every guy out because they’ll make the play behind me.
“I had [Pawtucket] buckling. But that curveball is so slow and then I come back with a heater and now they're down 0-2 and they don't know what to do.”
Kilduff took the first pitch of the sixth inning before shooting a line drive into the left-center gap for a double to start Exeter-West Greenwich's mercy rule, walk-off rally. His nine RBIs nearly lead the Scarlet Knights' lineup and he's second in stolen bases with eight.
“He's a really good pitcher and he's got a really [good] curveball,” senior Michael Berek said. “No one can really hit it; I have trouble hitting it.”
The Knights (9-2) dropped an 11-0 decision against undefeated West Warwick this season and a 4-3 final against Rogers just last week. But they have the pitching, which also includes sophomore Tyler Medeiros, and hitting that can play to a championship level in a playoff series.
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Last season, Exeter-West Greenwich downed top-seeded West Warwick in two 2-1 contests to win the Pod 1 title. The Knights were then shut out by Mount Pleasant twice in the championship.
“We are definitely trying to win the championship this year and get our revenge back from last year," Kilduff said, "and we have a really good chance."
jrousseau@providencejournal.com
On X: @ByJacobRousseau
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Kilduff puts charge into Exeter-West Greenwich baseball with curveball that stuns hitters
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