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Central Kentucky News
12:38 a.m. EDT, April 7, 2013
Signing day has already come and gone for Scott Conyers.
There was no press conference, no row of hats on a table, no fans watching online to learn his decision. In fact, there wasn’t even a letter-of-intent on the table.
Conyers signing wasn’t a commitment to play college baseball, but rather a commitment to serve as a member of the U.S. Army National Guard.
Following his one and only season as Boyle County’s starting left fielder, he plans to put down his bat and glove for a future he has been planning for some time. He plans to join a military police unit in the National Guard and study toward a career in criminal justice.
“I’ve always wanted to go into criminal justice, and the military kind of runs in the family,” Conyers said.
Conyers is looking forward to his future, to be sure, but he is also enjoying the present. He has patiently waited for his chance to play every day, and that turn has come this season.
“It’s something I’ve been striving for for a long time, and I’m glad to finally have it,” he said. “It’s been a long four years, and to finally have a constant starting role, it feels really good.”
It must have felt even better when Conyers got off to a hot start at the plate. While many of his teammates were scuffling early in the season, he got off to a good start, hitting .385 (5 for 13) before the Rebels left for their spring break tournament in Fort Walton Beach, Fla.
“I’ve just been keeping my weight back and driving it somewhere, and I’ve been bunting a lot,” he said. “Bunting has always been my best game, and lately I’ve been hitting singles. It’s just repetition and fixing my stance and hitting in BP.”
Conyers has settled into the No. 9 spot in the Boyle batting order, but he didn’t take it as an insult when he was placed last in the lineup. Many teams try to use the No. 9 hitter as a kind of second leadoff man, and he said that was the plan when he and Brett Jones competed with Brett Jones for the leadoff spot in the preseason.
“That’s exactly how we look at it. Me and Brett are the fastest guys on the team, and it was between me and him for the leadoff spot. He got it, and I’m the second leadoff and I try to take advantage of it,” he said.
One way he can do that is by bunting, whether in a sacrifice situation or for a base hit.
“I’ve got speed, and I’ve just been practicing getting it down, and where I’m left-handed, it’s natural for me to try to bunt it down the third-base line,” he said.
Conyers is one of several Rebels who are new to the lineup this season, including a number of seniors who are first-year starters.
“After last year, knowing the people we had coming back, I just realized it’s on me now, that I’m going to be starting every day,” he said. “We’re all ready for it. We are all good ballplayers. We want to make the most out of our senior year, and we want our senior year to be remembered.”
Life will be far different for Conyers this time next year. He’ll go to Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri for about eight weeks of basic training this fall, then enroll at Eastern Kentucky University, where he’ll work toward a degree in criminal justice and join the school’s Army ROTC program.
He said his father has been in the National Guard for more than 20 years and has given him a good idea of what to expect in the Guard, where he’ll join a military police company.
“He said I’ll be a changed man when I get out of basic,” he said.
Conyers said it’s exactly what he’s looking for.
“I do have the desire. It’s what I want do do,” he said.
Still, he knows it won’t be easy to walk away from baseball when this season ends.
“It’s going to be really difficult,” Conyers said. “I won’t be surprised if I shed some tears, but I know it’s coming, and I’ve got more things to go on to in life.”
