Each week, BRSN chooses one athlete that stood out among his or her peers within the Cornell community and the Ivy League. This week, we chose Kyle Gallagher, who registered two hits and two runs to help the Big Red baseball team win 10-8 in its first game against Harvard, then went on to tally two more hits, a run and an RBI in the second game followed by a run and an RBI in the final game on Sunday.
BRSN: How did you first get started with baseball, and what kept you in the sport?
KG: I first got started with baseball when I was around four or five years old. That was when I played on my first organized team. My dad was the coach and my two brothers and I would constantly go down to the field and hit. I was not recruited to play baseball anywhere and actually came to Cornell as a member of the football team. Halfway through my time here at Cornell I started to realize I might want to give baseball another shot. Also, watching my brother play at Ithaca made me realize how much I missed it. So, I decided to give it a shot and try out for the team.
BRSN: Why did you choose Cornell?
KG: I chose Cornell because I thought it was the perfect balance of academics and athletics. Any time you get into a school as great as Cornell it is hard to turn down.
BRSN: What is your favorite baseball memory?
KG: My favorite baseball memory happened my junior year in high school. It was the Section Finals and we were losing 8-0 going into the last inning. We ended up scoring nine runs in that inning to take the lead. Unfortunately, the opposing team scored one in the bottom half of the inning to force extra innings. We then scored two runs in the following inning and took an 11-9 lead into the bottom half. The game ended on a perfect relay to our catcher who tagged two runners out within a second of each other, preserving the win.
BRSN: What’s your favorite Cornell game that you’ve played in?
KG: My favorite game I played in at Cornell was last year at Towson. We scored 27 runs on 28 hits. It is always fun when the entire team is hitting like that.
BRSN: How do you like to prepare for games?
KG: I like to listen to music and hang out in the locker room with my teammates before every game.
BRSN: What’s your pregame meal?
KG: For every home game, a couple of my teammates and I go to CTB.
BRSN: Besides baseball, what do you enjoy doing?
KG: I enjoy relaxing and watching sports. I also like to hang out with my friends and families.
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