The phrase is well known, but very fitting in the case of former Independence standout Brayden Kiblinger.
“It is not the size of the dog in the fight. It is the size of the fight in the dog.”
Undersized throughout his high school career, Kiblinger never used that as an excuse.
Instead, he used it as motivation.
“Obviously I am not the biggest guy, so I have to play and work extra hard,” Kiblinger said.
Tuesday evening, the combination of hard work, perseverance and grit paid the ultimate dividends for the young man they call, “Kibby.”
Surrounded by family, teammates, coaches and friends, Kiblinger realized one of his biggest baseball dreams by signing a National Letter of Intent to play the game he loves at WVU Tech.
“This feels good. I am extremely excited and grateful for the opportunity. I knew I could do it, but waiting this long was a little stressful,” Kiblinger said. “If you told me in the middle of the year that this was going to happen, I probably would have laughed at you. Obviously this is not the end goal. Trying to get a starting spot is the end goal, so we will see how that goes.”
Kiblinger joins a long list of Independence athletes afforded the luxury of playing baseball at the next level.
“We have been fortunate to have quite a few players get this opportunity over the years,” Independence head coach Scott Cuthbert said. “If there has been anybody that has been an overachiever, it is Brayden. That makes it kind of nice.”
Midway through his senior season, playing at the next level seemed to be a long shot at best for Kiblinger.
Struggling with errors at shortstop, Cuthbert felt he was at a crossroads with both his team and his shortstop.
“He definitely had the opportunity to go the other way because he struggled there for a little while. We had a little talk and tried to get him to go back to the basics,” Cuthbert said. “That is the biggest thing he has to remember. For him to be successful, he just has to be himself and not do too much. Sometimes he tries to do a little too much and that gets him in trouble.”
The talk also included the possibility of moving Kiblinger to another position.
“We talked to him about changing positions and he said he wanted to stay at shortstop. Since that day, he has played really well,” Cuthbert said. “You don’t like to put too much pressure on people in this game, but sometimes you have to do what you have to do. He responded really positively for us.”
Kiblinger was stellar down the stretch for the Patriots who erased the bast taste of a 6-8 start by marching through the sectional and regional tournaments unscathed.
In the middle of the charge was the future Golden Bear turning several web-gems along the way.
“The second half of the year went really, really good,” Kiblinger said. “Even Scotty said that at the end of the state tournament game. “Look what you can do when you be you.” I thought that stood out to me a lot. Just being true to myself and not trying to do too much.”
Independence stunned top-seed Winfield in the semifinal game before falling to Frankfort in the championship game.
The ride to the state tournament was an incredible journey for a team that only returned four players that wore the Patriot uniform last year.
“It is really good to see because when he came here, he is one nobody expected a lot out of,” Cuthbert said. “To see the way he went out, winning the section and region, along with playing for a state championship, it is pretty neat.”
Before heading off to college in the fall, Kiblinger will get a taste of some college action by playing American Legion baseball with Beckley Post 32 Top Prospects over the summer.
Several of his teammates also have ties to the Golden Bears.
“I played against all those guys, but we have a great atmosphere in there. It is going to be really fun,” Kiblinger said about playing for Post 32. “We go down to Bridgeport this weekend and I am excited for that, plus we get to play Thursday. I think this will help me a lot just seeing it and getting prepared.”
