Coming to the ballpark for a game day looks a lot different for Ryan Kucy than it did when he first started going to college.
The Edmonton native came out of AHP Academy as a highly regarded infielder and performed very well in his first two seasons at Northeastern Junior College.
Everything was going according to plan when he made the move to St. Bonaventure University and was getting regular playing time at third base.
However, a month into his junior season, the Bonnies’ pitching staff ran into injury troubles, leaving head coach Jason Rathbun to find some reinforcements.
Enter Kucy, who had pitched in a couple of games for the Edmonton Prospects during the summer of 2024.
Playing catch with a teammate, they started “goofing around” and, before long, his pitching coach took notice of the infielder’s submarine-style delivery and asked Kucy if he thought he could replicated it on the mound.
“I, being a little bit confident in all of my abilities, told him, ‘Of course I can,’” Kucy told Alberta Dugout Stories: The Podcast. “And I honestly, to this day, threw the best bullpen in that very moment.”
It might not have been the decision he wanted to make, but he’s now, as a senior, in the midst of his first season as a full-time pitcher, looking to enjoy the ride as long as he can.
DEBUT TO REMEMBER
The idea of becoming a pitcher was something Kucy could never have imagined in a million years, especially at the NCAA Division I level.
When he took to the hill with the Prospects, he says he just knew he could go in and throw strikes in an emergency or a blow-out.
“Even being a shortstop and third baseman, I had an average arm,” Kucy said. “I didn’t know how well it would translate to a stop-and-go position on the mound.”
On March 21, 2025, the 6-foot-2, 215-pound righthander made his debut on the bump in the ninth inning down 19-1 to George Mason University
With nothing really to lose, Kucy induced a ground out and pop out from the first two hitters he faced, then allowed a single and a hit-by-pitch.
One runner then scored on an error, and another scored on a single before the new hurler got Tripp Capers to ground it back to him to end the inning.
All told, he allowed two unearned runs on two hits and no walks in one inning of a 21-2 loss.
While it’s not the result the team wanted, it was a moment Kucy won’t soon forget.
“That was one of the coolest moments in my life as my family was there to see me,” he said. “It was really cool.”
It also gave Kucy the confidence he needed knowing he could actually pitch at the collegiate level, something he has carried with him ever since.
REFINING HIS STUFF
Kucy made a total of four appearances out of the bullpen for the Bonnies in 2025, going 0-1 with a 12.15 earned run average, striking out three in 6.2 innings.
While the ERA stands out, he is also quick to point out how one bad inning can skew the number dramatically.
After spending the summer with the Wenatchee AppleSox of the West Coast League, Kucy went into the offseason looking to build on his arsenal at home under the tutelage of Taylor Burns and Ethan Elias at AHP, who he says helped build him into the player he became.
The former Brooks Bomber infielder wanted to focus on pitches like the sinker and change-up which could “drop off the table” for hitters who were already uncomfortable facing his below-the-belt delivery.
“Taylor was also a guy who threw from my arm slot, so I was always picking his brain, telling him what something feels like, how it’s working, how it’s breaking, and he helped me understand feels and stuff like that,” said Kucy.
“Ethan was a really big help for me in just figuring out how to move my body like a pitcher, how to train like a pitcher, and then also how to recover like a pitcher.”
Because there aren’t a lot of submarine pitchers, Kucy says he didn’t really try to emulate anyone as much as it was trying to be comfortable in his own skin, especially entering his final year of college.
GRATEFUL FOR THE JOURNEY
Coming into this spring, Kucy says he just wanted to help the team in any way he could.
Even in developing new pitches, he says being a senior allows him to have the mindset of “whatever they want me to have, I’ll have.”
It’s worked out so far for Kucy, who is 1-1 with a 7.36 ERA in nine games, striking out six in 11 innings of work.
One point of pride he has is that he’s only allowed four walks, which shows he has good control of his arsenal.
However, it’s not about numbers in his eyes.
“I just want to win,” Kucy said. “I want to go out there with my guys and go to battle every day, have fun, and just cherish the time that we have playing together. You can’t take it for granted.”
It won’t be long before the Archbishop Jordan Catholic School graduate also crosses the stage as a university graduate as he looks to get into policing with the RCMP soon.
If this is where his baseball journey ends, the 22-year-old is grateful for all the experiences he’s had, which allows him to provide his own guidance for the next generation of athletes looking to end up where he’s been.
“Never take the game too serious because, at the end of the day, it’s a child’s game played by grown men,” he pontificates. “Cherish your time, cherish where your feet are at, and always just have fun as it’ll be gone before you know it.”
