BRADENTON -- Kelson Brown is playing for a little more than himself.
He’s playing for the guys at his alma mater, and all the other guys attempting to take the road less traveled to professional baseball.
And he just happens to be doing so all over the field this summer with the Bradenton Marauders.
The 23-year-old referred to himself as a utility man prior to Wednesday night’s game against the Fort Myers Miracle, and the numbers bear that out. The only thing he hasn’t done this season is pitch or catch, playing six different positions and making at least 13 appearances at second base, shortstop and third base.
“Wherever they need me to play,” Brown said, “I’m happy.”
Brown is also a self-proclaimed underdog. The Pittsburgh Pirates took him during the 34th round in the 2010 draft out of Linfield College, a Division III school in Oregon that hadn’t seen a baseball player drafted in more than a decade.
In other words, Linfield will never be referred to as a baseball factory.
“It’s something we want to change. We’ve always been kind of a mediocre, above-average team there,” Brown said, “and our senior class really strove to make a difference.”
Brown and his teammates did so in 2010, leading Linfield to a program-best 37 victories and to within two wins of a national championship. In June of that year, he became the first Wildcat picked by a major-league team since the Toronto Blue Jays took Brian Barnett in 1997.
K.C. Wiser, a pitcher, continued Linfield’s streak this year when the Texas Rangers took him during the 50th round.
It’s an achievement not lost on Brown, who hit .293 in 62 games last summer with the Pirates’ short-season Single-A team in State College.
“It’s just a lot of hard work,” he said, “and us believing that we can do it.”
Good coaching helps, too, and Linfield’s coach is Scott Brosius, who won three World Series rings with the New York Yankees during an 11-year big-league career.
“A guy like that, he commands respect from Day One, because you know where he’s been,” Brown said. “He just shows so much class, so much leadership. You really respect him on and off the field and just to get a good relationship with him, and just to hear about his experiences is a good thing.”
The feeling appears to be mutual.
“I really believe some of Kelson’s best years are ahead of him. I don’t think he has yet reached his maximum potential,” Brosius said in a story written on Linfield’s website following the 2010 draft. “He still can get stronger, faster and better. He has all the physical tools -- arm strength, speed and body type -- to be a very good professional player.”
Since coming to Bradenton, he has shown some versatility, too. He has logged time at second base lately while Jarek Cunningham works his way back from a concussion, and Brown also played first base the first game after Aaron Baker was dealt to the Baltimore Orioles last Saturday.
And on Wednesday, he started at second and moved to shortstop during the top of the sixth inning.
“It’s been a real good experience,” he said.
But what Brown really wants to prove is that a draft pick is a draft pick, regardless of the player’s origins. He entered Wednesday’s game hitting .269 with 18 RBIs.
“You’re the underdog. You want to compete with these guys,” Brown said. “I’m playing with guys who are at the top of the game at the D-I level who were drafted in the first couple of rounds, and I’m competing and playing well with them. It really shows it doesn’t matter what level you are, but what level you play at.”
