Submitted photo Black Bears’ right-handed pitcher Daniel Kanagy allowed no runs in his team debut on Sunday against Williamsport.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Daniel Kanagy’s journey to minor league baseball has many story lines to pick from. Much like pitching repertoire, it’s hard to know what the McAlisterville native’s going to throw at you first.

Fortunately, the latest timeline is barely a month old – as he signed a professional contract with the Major League Baseball Draft League and learned on July 4 that he was headed to the Morgantown, W.Va.-based West Virginia Black Bears.

There were certainly plenty of fireworks going off in the head of the 22-year-old Kanagy that day.

And few could blame him as he starts to realize a dream that he’s had since he first picked up a bat for T-ball at age 6.

“It’s honestly one of those things, you have to go out on the field and keep things simple and be where your feet are at,” said Kanagy, a 6-2, 238-pound right-hander. “You have to take it all in and enjoy it.”

It’s also ironic that Kanagy, who graduated from East Juniata High School in 2021, made his pro debut in Williamsport, the same city where he attended a Little League camp as a youngster.

“It was between West Virginia and State College – where I was hoping to go – so it worked out perfectly,” Kanagy said of his assignment to the Black Bears.

Players are signed by Major League Baseball then designated to one of six teams in the MLB Draft League. The league consists of the Black Bears, State College Spikes, Williamsport Crosscutters, Trenton (N.J.) Thunder, Frederick (Md.) Keys and Mahoning Valley (Ohio) Scrappers.

Officially, Kanagy was designated to play for the Black Bears for the second half of the MLB Draft League season, but he was called in early due to a shortage of pitchers.

“The manager called me up early,” recalled Kanagy, who had planned to spend Independence Day with his girlfriend in Virginia.

Oh and by the way, the Black Bears are in the midst of the pennant race as four teams were separated by one game going into Thursday night’s action.

He is scheduled to pitch tonight in West Virginia’s first-half finale with the possibility of a league title on the line. No pressure there for his second pro start.

Kanagy certainly shined in his pro debut on Sunday against Williamsport, throwing five innings of nearly flawless baseball. He scattered two hits and struck out two.

The game was scoreless when he exited in the sixth inning. West Virginia scored four runs in the seventh and two more in the eighth to pick up a 6-0 win.

Kanagy is counting on having some impressive outings in the MLB Draft League to either get drafted by a major league team or get signed as an undrafted free agent.

“It’s absolutely been a dream of mine since I was a little kid to play pro baseball of any kind,” he said.

A solid season of playing baseball for the University of Virginia’s College at Wise also helped. Kanagy made 15 appearances for the Cavaliers, including one start. He did not have a win-loss record, but he pitched 15 1/3 innings and earned three saves, striking out 21 and walking eight.

With 26 victories, this year’s team put together one of the best seasons in the program’s NCAA Division II era, tying the record for most wins in a season.

Like many youngsters, Kanagy dreamed of making it to the pros one day. As he ascended from youth baseball to the high school ranks then to college, he knew that fewer players were able to realize their dream at each passing level.

“As you go higher and higher, the pool gets smaller,” Kanagy said. “You have to really take it upon yourself to get to where you want to go – to that next level. You want to make connections and put in the work.”

That’s what Kanagy did. He even reached out to the president of the MLB Draft League in May to get on any list he could to play in it, and his persistence paid off.

“It sounded like a good opportunity, so we’ll just have to wait it out and see,” Kanagy added.

He said he received a text from league officials in mid-June to watch for an email with documents in the league’s second half, which is geared for draft candidates.

Kanagy also reached out to other services that help players get placed in independent ball, such as the Atlantic League and Frontier Leagues.

“As soon as I saw it (the e-mail), I was pumped and super excited,” Kanagy said. “He said they’d be emailing me by July 1, but I hadn’t gotten an email on the first.”

Regardless of where he played, he hoped to stay somewhere close to Pennsylvania. “That way my family and friends can come to games,” Kanagy explained. “But at the end of the day, you have to go where the opportunity is at.”

After pitching on Sunday, he went home and packed, traveling to Morgantown the following day to set up his apartment and locker – players get their lodging and food paid for in the MLB Draft League.

“It was awesome,” Kanagy said of his debut. “It was everything I’ve dreamed of as a kid. I just tried to stay focused. Seeing my family in the stands. It was really a full-circle moment.”

He hopes to have even more of a cheering section next week as the Black Bears open the second half in State College with a three-game series against the Spikes on July 16-18.