INSIDE COVERAGE: FORMER LION NOW EXCELLING AT APSU By Corey Adams When Camden Central High's Kyle Blackburn stepped on the field during his prep career, there was no greater athlete competing on that day. Having witnessed the two-sport athlete in person, I can support this claim. Whether it was baseball or football, he was gifted competitor. Admittedly, I rooted against Blackburn as he played against my alma mater for four years, but I always respected the way he played, with a natural athletic ability you can't teach. Blackburn reminisced of his high school career as I spoke to him earlier this week - "I miss it," he said. On the gridiron, he was a run-stopping linebacker who was nearly unblockable. Side note: I'll never forget the 2011 District 11-AA Championship game as his Lions prevailed. Still pains me to this day. When trees turned green on the banks of the Tennessee River, Blackburn traded in his jersey for a Camden baseball uniform. The Lions played at the local City Park, featuring a field with short fences across the outfield. Primarily a shortstop at the time, Blackburn hit .439 and was credited with 29 homers over his four-year career, but it felt like more as he easily scorched balls out of the park. Blackburn had an offer to play baseball and football simultaneously in college, but chose baseball full-time at Jackson State CC. After hitting 15 home runs as a sophomore, Blackburn made the leap to Division I to join the Governors. "This team is great," he said. "Everyone gets along and there's not a lot of pressure as there's another guy in line who's going to pick you up and get the job done." As a junior, Blackburn went through first-season struggles, batting .216 in 27 games (seven starts). But this season, with a spot needed to be filled in the outfield, the senior has stepped up to take on a larger role in the midst of OVC play. Blackburn has started five of the last seven games, and has posted an eight-game hitting streak to jolt his average to .452. After a 3-for-5 outing at Jacksonville State which included a triple, Blackburn had a breakthrough performance against Murray State last Saturday, going 4-for-4 with four RBI and two runs scored. He's not feeling the pressure any longer, which has him contributing in a stacked APSU lineup. "Coach (Derrick) Dunbar and Coach (Travis) Janssen have really helped me, along with my teammates," Blackburn said. "Patrick (Massoni) and Cayce (Bredlau) have had talks with me and told me what they see and what I should try to do to fix it. It has really helped." The Govs have been a streaky team to begin conference play, going 6-3 with series sweeps over Eastern Illinois and the Racers. Consistency is key for Blackburn and company as Austin Peay hits the road for a weekend trip to Tennessee Tech. "We're going to try and change that (inconsistency) this upcoming weekend, and I believe we will," he said. "We're going to work hard this week in practice. I think we're going to keep doing what we're doing." "Last question, how much do you bench?" I asked. "Not enough," Blackburn replied. I rest my previous case. | 
