Sophomore pitcher and first baseman Cole Reynolds was recruited to play for the Burlington Sock Puppets this past summer after a successful 2020-21 season with the Elon baseball team.
General manager for the Sock Puppets Anderson Rathbun said Reynolds showed potential in his freshman season that piqued the Sock Puppet’s interest.
“I mean just the overall potential that Cole has,” Rathbun said. “He’s got a big body, big frame and and he really plays up to a strength, so we were excited to sign Cole for his athletic ability and just overall baseball acumen.”
For the Sock Puppets, Reynolds played as a pitcher. While there, he learned new ways to look at the game from coaches and teammates.
“I got to learn a lot more,” Reynolds said. “A lot of new things from different perspectives from other players and how they go about things and learn some new stuff from different coaches and try to learn off, benefit off of that.”
Reynolds said he enjoyed playing for the Sock Puppets, and playing for them helped him to better understand the game.
“It was a lot of fun,” Reynolds said, “We had a good trainer that worked here, so she took care of my arm. Made a lot of new friends from far places and build a relationship with them and just learn more about the game.”
Reynolds said that he is seeking to be consistent with his execution every time he steps onto the field, which is something that he learned from the Sock Puppets.
“Just keep being the same guy. Don't let anything. Don't let little things affect how you play and have good body language throughout the game,” Reynolds said.
Rathbun said that Reynolds was a good person to look up to in the community because of his outlook on the game.
“I really think he just has a mature outlook on what playing a sport, especially at this level and hopefully the next level really means,” Rathbun said. “It’s not just about being an athlete, but it’s really being a role model within the community and I really think Cole did a great job grasping that and coming into that role specifically off the field this past summer.”
Reynolds batted a .239 with a .352 slugging average with the Sock Puppets, which was slightly below his .292 with a .444 slugging average he batted with the Phoenix last spring.
Reynolds won baseball’s top newcomer award at the Elon athletics awards banquet in 2021. This season, Elon head coach Mike Kennedy said that a goal for Reynolds is to decrease his strikeouts.
“I think as a result of that, he's starting to get more hits in our inner squads and getting balls in play and we need them, there's no question,” Kennedy said. “He knows that he's gonna be a two way guy for us, but offensively, he needs to be a middle of the order type hitter for us. And hopefully he's on his way to be that type of player.”
Reynolds is looking to improve his pitching and overall field work this season.
“Mainly my pitching, not so much hitting,” he said, “Just throwing strikes and being efficient with my pitches and just getting stronger and more athletic.”
As regular season play starts up, Reynolds said he is looking to pitch more.
Through seven games this season, Reynolds has just one hit in 18 at-bats and is yet to make a pitching appearance. Elon will next play against Toledo on March 4.