Shortly after learning he had earned a ticket into the major league baseball system, Kevin Marnon got another call from someone who says helped to pave the way for the left-handed pitcher.
His Stevenson High School coach, Joseph Emanuele.
“I was just honored to speak to him,” said Marnon, who is leaving Sunday to join a rookie league team in Florida for the Minnesota Twins. “He is someone who has made me who I am today.”
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Marnon said he it was his sophomore year as a Stevenson High School Titan where he began to think about a future as a professional baseball player.
He said Coach Emanuele was the key to his development through a goal-centered approach and high expectations for his players.
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“There is a lot of competition for positions at Stevenson and (Emanuel) made it clear you had to play for it,” Marnon said. “It was based on how hard you worked at practice.”
A three-sport athlete in high school, Marnon centered on baseball because of his height (6-7) and the advantage he would have as a left hander.
As a player, Marnon earned all-conference and all-county honors, helped lead the Titans to the MAC championship and state semifinals after with a 31-7 senior season, and played in the Michigan High School All-Star game.
After graduating from Stevenson in 2012, he played for the Ball State Cardinals – an experience he said he was prepared after being a Titan.
“Coach Emanuel ran his practices like a college team,” he said. “You were always working and moving around – there was not any down time like you might see at other high schools.”
The past two months, he has pitched with the Birmingham-Bloomfield Beavers of the United Shore Professional Baseball League.
It was there that he received the call that he will begin pursuing his dream of playing at the major league level.
It is a dream that has its roots in the lessons and experiences from his time at Roberts Elementary, Malow and Davis junior high schools and Stevenson High School.
“This community has taught me the importance of having a strong work ethic,” he said.
Dr. Christine Johns, Superintendent of Schools
Source: Utica Community Schools
