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Shortstop takes long trip to land at Kansas

By Josh Bowe

Friday, March 13, 2009

Oh, the places you’ll go. Back in high school, David Narodowski probably didn’t think a Dr. Seuss book would describe his baseball career.

And for the Jayhawks, it’d be hard to imagine how the season would be going without Narodowski. After a rough start that saw Narodowski’s batting average below .200, he’s now raised it to .341 in the last week. Price always knew Narodowski was a solid hitter after watching him play during the last fall semester.

SPRING BREAK SCHEDULE



Today at Arizona State, 6:30 p.m.



Tomorrow at Arizona State, 6:30 p.m.



March 15 at Arizona State, 6:30 p.m.



March 17 at San Diego State, 8:30 p.m.



March 18 at San Diego State, 8:30 p.m.



March 20 vs. Texas, 3:00 p.m.



March 21 vs. Texas, 1:00 p.m.



March 22 vs. Texas, 1:00 p.m.

“He pulled his average close to .300 and a week ago against Northwestern he was close to .200,” Price said Tuesday after the Missouri Valley game. “But he hit .400 in the fall.”

Narodowski, junior shortstop, traveled great lengths before finding a home at Kansas. He grew up learning and playing the game in Vancouver, British Columbia all the way up in the great white north of Canada.

Looking to continue his impressive high school career — he played on the Canadian junior national team — Narodowski didn’t have too many offers before the last day to sign with a college. Luckily a small junior college in Wichita Falls, Texas, came through.

“It was lucky, it was on the last day one of the Vernon College coaches offered me a scholarship,” Narowdowski said. “So I had to take it.”

So Narodowski travled 2,123 miles to continue his baseball career and he didn’t waste the trip.

For his only season at Vernon, Narowdowski hit .450 with eight home runs and 42 RBIs. But for all his impressive stats, he, again, received few offers, including one from Kansas coach Ritch Price.

“My sophomore season towards the end I still didn’t really anywhere to go,” he said. “I’m glad coach Price kept talking to me, he was talking to me for about a month towards the end of the season.”

Price lured Narodowski to Kansas with the allure of playing against the rest of the Big 12 Conference because Price was short on scholarships. Narowdowski’s other offers were to smaller schools such as St. Edwards, a private school in Austin, Texas.

“He turned down substantial scholarship offers because he wanted to play at a major university in a major conference,” Price said. “He’s here on just a little bit of scholarship money because that’s all we had.”

Narodowski’s bat will be counted on even more over spring break. Kansas faces off against two stellar programs during a west coast trip. First up is national powerhouse No. 4 Arizona State starting this afternoon at 6:30 p.m.

“It’s a great opportunity for us, we’re going to go play one of the finest teams in the country,” Price said. “One of the most storied teams in the country.”

— —Edited by Chris Hickerson

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