'Captain K': Junior shortstop plays role of leader for Lions in midst of postseason run

May 18—Missouri Southern hosted its first NCAA Division II Central Region tournament since the 1992 season on Thursday at Warren Turner Field.

The 10th-ranked Lions entered the day with a 42-15 record, a runner-up finish in the MIAA conference tournament as well as finishing second in the MIAA regular season standings.

"We've had a really good season so far," Head Coach Bryce Darnell said. "There's only 16 teams that get to host a regional and we're excited to be one of them."

A big part of the reason for that success is leaders like Nate Mieszkowski and Matt Miller on offense, and pitcher Cole Woods — who each earned all-region honors from the National College Baseball Writers' Association.

MSSU's leadership goes beyond the impact on the field though. You're surely familiar with 'Coach K' — Mike Krzyzewski, longtime coach of Duke basketball. But you may not be aware of 'Captain K' — the Lions' shortstop.

Darnell says junior Henry Kusiak is "one of the best leaders" he's ever coached.

"I appreciate when he says that but I think he toots my horn too much," Kusiak said of Darnell. "I'm not the only leader on this team. There are probably eight guys that are great leaders on this team."

"That's Henry," Darnell said. "He gives credit to other people. He knows the team is important and he knows no one is more important than anyone else. At the same time, every group has to have a leader and that's Henry."

Kusiak came to Southern from Grant High School in Fox Lake, Illinois.

Even if he feels as if Darnell is giving him too much credit, leading is something that Kusiak puts a lot of effort into.

"I take a lot of pride in being a leader on this team," Kusiak said. "It means a lot to me for these guys to look to me for that leadership.

"I like to build relationships with everybody I'm on a team with."

Darnell has seen those relationships built first-hand at Southern.

"Oh, yeah," Darnell said. "That's so true. ... It doesn't matter if you're a star or someone that doesn't get on the field, Henry will treat you the same."

But what is it that stands out about Kusiak? What does his coach see in him to be able to consider him one of the best leaders he's coached?

"Henry is just a guy that I have a lot of trust in, a guy that I rely on to get a pulse of our team for certain things," Darnell said. "It's in a joking way, but there's a lot of truth to it because we don't vote captains — a lot of the kids refer to him as 'captain.'

"It doesn't matter if he's 0 for 4 or 4 for 4, Henry's always the same. And that's something that's hard to do in the sport of baseball."

College baseball is where a lot of players look to take their game to the next level and try to go one step further to the majors. While that might be on Kusiak's mind, he sees this experience as more than that opportunity.

"That's what college baseball is all about, right?" Kusiak said. "It's building a brotherhood and going to battle with these guys. That's the college experience. ... It's being able to build those lifelong connections."

Getting to know his teammates helps him to know how to keep each guy upbeat and positive throughout a game. Kusiak believes team chemistry is important and feels like that's a big part of MSSU's success. He noted that even the players who don't play often are invested and "that's what it takes."

Darnell added that Kusiak is a tireless worker on the field, in the weight room and the classroom.

Spreading the kind words back to Darnell, Kusiak said he has done a good job of scouting opponents' pitching staffs all year to prepare hitters for what they will see against each opponent.

Those opponents will be in the Central Region tournament.

PLAYING THEIR BEST BASEBALL

MSSU was not preparing any different for the regional tournament than any other weekend. Rather, the Lions are just staying loose and trying not to let the moment get too big.

Kusiak mentioned the importance of Southern playing its best baseball being a key to getting out of the region with a championship. But what exactly does the team's best baseball look like?

"It's being aggressive at the plate, being comfortable at the plate, trusting each other and trusting the guy on the mound," Kusiak said. "For the guy on the mound, it's being able to look back at his team and know that we've got his back."

Kusiak added that he believes the offense has to be hot at the right time in order to get out of the Central Region tournament.

Darnell wants to see his offense break out of what he considers a "bit of a lull" over the past two weeks.

Playing at home could be a key to the Lions finding their best baseball this weekend as well.

"We're successful at home and I think that will be super important for our confidence," Kusiak said.

"We don't have to travel and we get to play in a familiar place," Darnell said. "We're just hoping to play consistent and play like we're capable."

MSSU won Game 1 4-3 over Arkansas Tech to begin the regional tournament.

ILLINOIS CONNECTION

Kusiak isn't the only Lion to be from Illinois.

It seems Missouri Southern has a recruiting pipeline to there. Today's roster includes seven players from the nearby state. Those are sophomores Trent Harris, Kyle Moore and Nate Mieszkowski; freshmen Ethan Clark and Kyle Kaempf; and juniors Henry Kusiak and Drew Davis.

"Kyle Kaempf is a freshman that has a really bright future," Darnell said. "We expect big things from him in the future."

Darnell noted that he and his staff have gotten hits on these players and more from guys who used to play on Warren Turner Field in Joplin. There are plenty of people who give Darnell a nudge when they think someone is good enough to play at the college level for the Lions. But when these specific guys call him, he knows it's for good reason.

Former MSSU players with all-conference or all-region honors Richie Gorski, Freddie Landers, Chris Hoffman and Tony Tichy are some of those guys who give insight on players in the Illinois area that Darnell and his staff might want to take a look at.

"When those guys give us a head's up, we definitely pay attention," Darnell said of the former players from Illinois. "That Illinois connection has been pretty important to the success of our program."