When he was four years old, baseball became an always-present element in Kevin Coleman’s life. In just the eighth grade, he was promoted to starting player on the varsity baseball team. Now a senior and captain of the team, Coleman continues to receive high recognition.

Despite being the youngest player on a varsity sports team in 2015, Coleman found support and respect from his teammates. “I was lucky to have an awesome senior and junior class,” he said. “I was happy to have a great group of guys who took me in almost like I was the same age as them.”

Fast forward to now, and Coleman has made great strides in his baseball career as team captain and catcher. Through hard work and training, he has been an important asset to the team’s success. In addition to Coleman’s athletic ability, his sportsmanship and will to work with others is praised by teammates and coaches.

“He is the standard for which young Pelham baseball players and other Pelham student-athletes should be striving for,” said coach Brian Leighton. “He’s a team-first, hard-working competitor who also possesses the highest character traits one could have as a student-athlete. As coaches, we are privileged and truly thankful when we have the opportunity to stand side by side with student-athletes like Kevin Coleman.”

For the week of April 3, Coleman was honored with the Con Edison Scholar-Athlete of the Week Award, a prestigious achievement for high school students in the Westchester and Putnam Valley. Those honored display high academic ability and athletic performance. In acknowledgement of this achievement, he was interviewed on the WHUD radio station by Rich Leaf.

Along with this award, Coleman has been named an All-Section athlete for baseball four times, All-State twice, Comeback Player of the Year in his sophomore year, and has been named Athlete of the Week for Pelham Memorial High School. While baseball is his main sport, Coleman also played varsity basketball and football, earning All-League Athlete and Comeback Player of the Year nods for the latter.

Coleman will be continuing his athletic career in the fall, playing Division I baseball at Wake Forest University.

“If I was able to get drafted, then I totally would try to play professional baseball,” said Coleman. “But I think if my story ends at Wake Forest, I would totally still be happy with it.”

To spread his passion for the sport, Coleman gives hitting lessons to 10- to 13-year-olds and has worked as a counselor at Rising Star Baseball Camp. Aside from sports, Coleman enjoys spending time with his family, who are supportive of his athletic pursuits.

Since he was able to walk, baseball has been one of the most influential parts of Coleman’s life, both on and off the field.

“It’s caused me to know what hard work is, and I think that’s translated into school work and how I treat other people,” said Coleman. “In knowing baseball, you need to be a good teammate, you need to be working hard to play well, so I think just from baseball I’m learning life lessons every day.”