Hall of Fame
Mr. Kaleb Fleck , a two-time All-West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletics Conference (WVIAC) selection and an All-Atlantic Region right-handed pitcher for Head Coach Todd Williams’ Pitt-Johnstown baseball program, signed a minor league free agent contract with the Arizona Diamondback in September 2011 and worked his way all the way up to the AAA level.
Mr. Fleck, a Claysburg, Pa. native and a graduate of Claysburg-Kimmel High School, joined the Mountain Cat pitching staff in 2008 and was a three-year starter in the Mountain Cat rotation, before sitting out the 2011 season with an injury.
In three seasons at Pitt-Johnstown, Mr. Fleck posted a 14-7 overall record and a 4.18 E.R.A. in 127 innings. He also struck out 118 and walked 44.
Mr. Fleck joined Head Coach Todd Williams’ starting rotation as a freshman in 2008 and was 6-3 with 36 strikeouts.
A year later, he garnered First-Team All-West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC), Second-Team Daktronics, and Second-Team National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Atlantic Region honors after going 6-2 with 55 strikeouts and a 2.61 E.R.A. That summer, Mr. Fleck pitched for the Chatham Anglers in the prestigious Cape Cod Baseball League.
As a junior in 2010, Mr. Fleck was 2-2 with a 4.76 E.R.A. on his way to being named Second-Team All-WVIAC.
Mr. Fleck, who opted out of his senior season, returned to the Cape Cod League and pitched for the Cotuit Kettleers in the summer of 2011.
On Sept, 19, 2011, Mr. Fleck signed a free agent contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Over the next eight seasons, Mr. Fleck, who also pitched in the Arizona Fall League in 2014, worked his way through the ranks and reached as high as AAA, one call away from joining major league squad in Phoenix. He spent 3 years pitching in AAA for the Reno Aces. He posted a 3.72 ERA in 329 innings pitched with 373 strikeouts in his minor league career.
After the 2017 season, the Washington Nationals selected Mr. Fleck in Major League Baseball’s Rule 5 Draft and he spent 2018 pitching for the Nationals’ AA team in Harrisburg, PA.
Mr. Fleck retired from professional baseball in 2018 and began working in the sales field. For three years, he worked in the medical device industry in Harrisburg, PA but as his family began to grow, Mr. Fleck and his wife, Nicole, to move back home to be closer to family and friends. Mr. Fleck is now a territory sales manager for The Garland Co. in central Pennsylvania.
Education, along with baseball were always important to Mr. Fleck. Even while pursuing his lifelong dream of professional baseball. Mr. Fleck returned to Pitt-Johnstown in the off-season and earned in Bachelor of Science Degree in Biology in 2012
Mr. Fleck, Nicole and their two children, Kallie, age four, and Madden, age two, reside in Duncansville, Pa.
“Being selected to the Athletics Hall of Fame is truly humbling,” Mr. Fleck said. “When I decided to go to Pitt-Johnstown to continue my education and play baseball, being inducted into the Hall of Fame was something that never even crossed my mind, let along being able to continue my baseball career professionally. Playing under Todd Williams and Rick Roberts allowed me to grow as a person and player and achieve things in my athletic career that I didn’t even think were possible coming out of high school. I am very thankful for them and am extremely grateful to be a part of this group being inducted into the Pit-Johnstown Athletics Hall of Fame. I’d also like to thank Pitt-Johnstown for going above and beyond to help me finish my degree. I left college several credits short of earning my degree to pursue my professional baseball career. The biology department came up with a custom internship/research program that allowed me to earn the credits needed to finish my degree while I was playing in the minor leagues. This allowed me to chase my dream knowing that no matter what happened, I at least had my Pitt-Johnstown degree to fall back on.”
