Riverview Coach Wayne Griser with Pitt signee Dave Kaye

I first met him two years ago when he was a high school sophomore. Riverview High School Coach Rich Griser told me about pitcher Dave Kaye. He was among the top WPIAL strikeout leaders (third) and I asked he and his dad, Harry Kaye, to come into our offices for a video interview. (You can still see the video interview at www.alle-kiskitoday.com ) You could tell then this well-spoken, well-mannered player was going places.

He could have been going to Toronto, or some far-flung place in small-town America. Dave’s high school career was so stellar that he was drafted, right out of high school, in the 30th round by the Toronto Blue Jays. His pitch is so dead-on and his bat so hot that the major-league ball club had taken notice and picked him in June to play for them. Signing deals like that can mean $30,000 up front.

But instead, Dave Kaye is going to another place.

He’s going to Pittsburgh; specifically, the University of Pittsburgh, where he will study accounting. And play baseball—on a full scholarship, which he would have lost. Pitt could take him places that being drafted in the last rounds of the draft may never take him, at least at this point.

Other colleges had recruited him: the University of Delaware, IUP, Gardner-Webb, etc. But Kaye says, “I decided on Pitt because it was a good fit for me: the coaching staff is real nice, it’s close to home and it’s big-time baseball. All-around, it’s the most appealing.” And so Dave put his name on the dotted line with Pitt last October.

But don’t think that being drafted by a major-league team wasn’t a big deal to Kaye and his family.

“It was a pretty exciting time for me,” he says. “I didn't expect it. We were all at home, the whole family on the computer [watching the draft online.] Then we got a call that I was going to be drafted. We kept hitting refresh [on the website.] Once you see your name called, it was pretty unbelievable.”

It wasn’t unbelievable to anyone who keeps tabs on sports in the Greater Pittsburgh region. Let’s take just his name: Dave Kaye. It has a certain major-league celebrity-type ring to it to begin with. Just imagine the voice booming across Pittsburgh from PNC Park: “Next up at bat, DAAAAAVE KAAAAAYYEE!!”, or “AND THAT’S THE 19,999TH BATTER STRUCKOUT BY DAAAAAVE KAAAAAYEEE!!” And of course the serious baseball stat-watcher can’t ignore the obvious elephant in the room; Dave’s last name is the same as what is used in baseball statistics—the letter “K”—to mean a strike. The serious baseball stat-watcher can’t ignore the other elephant in the room either, Kaye’s honors and statistics.

He has been named “Player of the Year” by not one but TWO Pittsburgh-area newspapers. He was all-section all four years in high school. He played with the Allegheny Pirates last Fall, an elite Fall team of high school players. Dave Kaye led the WPIAL in strikeouts this season, was second in the WPIAL last season and third the season before. He finished his high school career with 374 strikeouts and 26 walks.

This year alone he had a total of 124 strikeouts, 95 in the regular season. He won 24 games and lost only 8. His Earned Run Average was an amazing .95. But that was nothing—before his team played in the WPIAL Quarterfinals, Dave had a .40 ERA! It wasn’t just pitching either. The right-hander also batted .409 this season; his batting average was over .500 the last two seasons. Those are high batting averages for any player, but for pitchers (who rarely hit well,) well, that’s some heavy hitting!

Dave has been surrounded by some “heavy-hitters” for a long time. “My parents (Harry and Nancy Kaye) are the ones who stuck with me all the years, taking me to games and practice,” he says. “I’ve been given a lot of natural ability, but I’m blessed with a lot…a bunch of great coaches and my dad has been great. All helped me improve and get better. My brother [Joe] also, he learned a lot at college. A lot he got made its way down to me. So lot of what he got as a freshman in college, I got [from him] as a freshman in high school.”

Joe Kaye, 22, graduated from Duquesne where he too played baseball. Dave’s other brother Mike, 26, played baseball in high school but not in college, CMU, where he graduated. “We all started in t-ball at the YMCA in Penn Hills. My two brothers played at Penn Hills. When we moved, I started out at Riverview,” Dave says.

It also helped that his high school coach knew what the major leagues and colleges need and just how to teach that to players, being a local scout for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Dave says, “Coach Rich Griser made high school baseball a lot of fun. The last four years, he's helped me improve my game a lot by working with me pretty much all year round...he’s a big part of my success. He had two players get drafted in the last five years. It is a credit to his ability to develop players.”

Kaye played on a Riverview baseball team that was also a key to his success. This season the Raiders overcame a 4-5 start to make it as far as the WPIAL semi-finals and advance to the State playoffs. It was the best of three years of bumpy starts and strong finishes. It also was Riverview’s first trip back to States in six years, which was Coach Griser’s first year at the helm of the Raiders.

And, it is only the second year playing in Class AA, after moving up from single-A. The school’s male population is just high enough to throw it out of A and into AA. It means the school, which has one of the lowest enrolments of any baseball team playing AA, has to compete against schools with bigger programs and a larger selection of young men to play ball. Not easy odds for any team, but it shows how much more remarkable Riverview’s squad has been, especially to go to State this season. It also shows how unusual it is to see a Dave Kaye emerge out of a small school.

Kaye’s family, his coaches, teams and Riverview High School has been the place for him. Now as this young man goes places, Alle-Kiski Today (and I’m sure the entire region) wishes him great success. It’s been quite an honor to have you play on our fields.