Sometimes the road to chasing a dream begins with the first step. In the case of former Chicago State University baseball player Kellon McFarlin starting his road towards playing professional baseball in the Major Leagues began literally in his car.
Before starting his professional journey, McFarlin was a three-time Academic All-Independent and two-time Academic All-Great West Conference selection for the Cougars. He batted .320 in his final season with CSU in 2010 while leading the GWC and ranked nationally in stolen bases with 27.
McFarlin, a 2009 graduate of CSU, spent the first six month of 2011 on the road in search of taking that first step towards Major League Baseball as he traveled west in his car beginning in early February to Phoenix in preparation for a tryout with the Los Angeles Dodgers in March.
After concluding the Dodgers' tryout, he stayed on the left coast for three months traveling to Pasedena, Calif., to a tryout for the independent North American League and later had a private tryout with the Yuma (Ariz.) Scorpions, a team that competes in the NAL.
Following the NAL tryouts, McFarlin leaves the left coast to return back home in Chicago before catching a break in the form of an invitation to play in the New York State League which brings a move to the neighborhood of Harlem and borough of Brooklyn from mid-June to early July.
In a return back to Chicago after the NYSL experience in July, another call came from the Carlsbad Bats from Alano Gordo, N.M., who is a travel team that competes in the Pecos League, an independent baseball league featuring teams in the New Mexico/West Texas area. A trip back west loomed on the horizon for McFarlin, who had less than four days to drive to Alamo Gordo from the Windy City in order to begin playing.
“I believe it (the reality of playing pro baseball) really hit me when I was driving to New Mexico. That's when I realized that I had a major breakthrough in realizing my ultimate goal of playing Major League Baseball,” said McFarlin. “I've been playing baseball for over 20 years up to this point and it was a joyous feeling to know that I can finally tell people that I play professional baseball.”
McFarlin's time with the traveling Bats was well spent as he gained some good playing experience especially in the final weeks of the season in August. He recorded his first professional base hit after beating out a bunt single against the Ruidoso (N.M.) Osos on Aug. 5, and finished the season hitting .307 with two RBI and a pair of stolen bases.
“The special thing about (the first hit) was that my coach was at the third base coaching line and called timeout to ask the umpire for the ball. After the inning was over and I came back to the dugout, my teammate tossed me the ball and said 'Here you go your first professional hit'.”
Since completing his stint with Carlsbad, McFarlin has continued chasing his dream by trying out for various independent teams after returning home in late August, including the Windy City Thunderbolts, Gateway Grizzlies and Joliet Slammers of the Frontier League.
He plans on returning west during the winter to train for spring tryouts in hopes of a shot at making a Major League roster in 2012