University of North Carolina Athletics
Kyle Snyder Makes His Professional Debut
August 7, 1999 | Baseball
August 7, 1999
From The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Washington
by Chris Derrick
Kyle Snyder passed the first test. Snyder's long-awaited professional debut was an unqualified success. The 6-foot-8 right-hander pitched three scoreless innings Thursday night in the Spokane Indians' 9-2 win over Yakima at Seafirst Stadium. Snyder, the first college pitcher selected in June's amateur draft, had waited nearly a month to take the mound for the Indians. An elbow problem that threatened to end his season turned out to be nothing more than minor swelling. Snyder allowed two hits, struck out two and walked none. He threw 33 pitches, 24 for strikes, and left early because of a strict pitch count.
Overall, I was satisfied,'' said Snyder, a University of North Carolina product whose father, Don, was in town from Florida. I was around the strike zone. Actually, I hadn't thrown in about 2 months, against Stanford in late May.'' Snyder stranded Bears runners at third base in the first and second innings. In the first, he struck out Northwest League home run leader Lamont Matthews with a 75-mph curveball to stop a threat. He ended the second by stabbing Isaac Valdez's hot grounder before it could scoot into center field. I wouldn't say that the best part of my makeup is fielding, but that one got me out of a jam once again,'' Snyder said.
Jay King relieved Snyder in the fourth and improved his record to 5-1. The reigning NWL pitcher of the week struck out six and allowed two earned runs in six innings. Spokane (29-17) retained its four game lead over Boise (25-21) in the North Division. Spokane won for the 16th time in 19 games and improved its home record to 16-6. It's been surprising to see how well we've been doing,'' Snyder said. Now this is the icing on the cake.
