Kyle DeGroat still has two years of high school baseball in front of him, but he’s already made a decision about his future when he graduates from Wallkill High School in June 2024.

The Wallkill Senior High School junior announced on Aug. 27 that he will further his academic and athletic career at Stony Brook University and will play for the Seawolves Division I baseball team starting in the 2025 season.

It brings a sense of relief halfway through his high school career.

“I’m able to not relax or take my foot off the gas, but I’ll be able to go out there and play the game I love and play without having to worry about who’s watching me and where I’m going to go,” DeGroat said. “I can just play my game.”

Stony Brook coaches had seen DeGroat play through his travel team, Interstate Baseball, and after several conversations over the phone, he took a trip to Stony Brook to see the facilities.

“I loved it,” DeGroat said. “I started talking to the coach after that, and he gave me the offer, and within a few days, I accepted it.”

The coaching was one aspect of DeGroat’s decision. Another was the Seawolves decision to move from the America East conference to the Colonial Athletic Conference, which DeGroat said is more competitive.

“They’re excited, and I’ll be excited when I get there,” DeGroat said.

DeGroat’s game is multi-faceted, and the Stony Brook coaching staff is looking at him as a two-way player. He is one of the Wallkill Panthers’ top pitchers and recently broke the school’s ERA record. He limited the opposition to about a .180 batting average and could have unhittable stuff.

“He wasn’t giving up more than a run if he was on the mound,” Wallkill baseball coach T.D. Mills said. “The one thing he could improve on is to stay in games longer, and just have more command of the strike zone. He was only a sophomore so you can’t really pick on him, but he did tend to walk a few guys. So, we talked about that and he said he worked on it in the summer.”

He’s also added to his repertoire over the summer. Mills said DeGroat also had a decent curve ball and said he may have developed a slider or changeup over the summer.

“So, now he has three pitches, but he was pretty dominant with just his fastball last year,” Mills said. “So, if he can learn to spot his fastball more in the zone and either pitch to more contact or miss bats, he’s going to be more special this year.”

DeGroat also was a fixture at the top of the Panthers’ batting order. If he makes more contact, Mills said he might hit .500 or .600 in the spring.

He also made a bit of a defensive transition this year. He’d been primarily a second baseman for the Panthers during his freshman and sophomore seasons, but this summer he’s made the transition to third base. It’s a more comfortable fit for him.
“The biggest thing for me is that I take a lot of time on ground balls,” DeGroat said. “I found that at shortstop, I think I have too much time. But at third, you just have to get into a rhythm and it’s more instinctive. You can’t think about it, which I’m better at. I think my arm is better than my footwork, so as long as I field it cleanly, I can get the guy at first.”

He’ll have two years to work on those things as he prepares to go to the next level. Although he signed early, he has the tools and work ethic he needs to succeed in a Division I program.

“He’s a great kid, both on and off the field,” Mills said. “He’s well liked all over the community in Wallkill and I’m just happy for him. He deserves everything. He’s putting all the work in, and he won’t stop either. He’s going to keep on working. I hope the other kids just follow suit. He’s doing things the right way.”