Half Moon Bay
The piano is Kai Kung's daily escape. His respite. Before doing homework at night or even starting the day, the Half Moon Bay junior sits at the piano and plays for a few minutes.
It could be 10 minutes. It could be 20.
"It keeps me fresh," he said. "It's a nice reset. Like, I'll be doing homework, I'll come home, and then I'll just hop on the piano to reset. If I finish homework for one class, I'll go on the piano and then start homework for
a new class.
"It's a lot like cleansing the palette."
Kung is becoming known for his recitals and in the last weeks has proven himself to be quite the maestro on the mound. Last week, the southpaw struck out 14 in a complete game against Cupertino that was his first varsity victory. He followed that up on Tuesday with another complete-game victory – this time over a ranked Carlmont team that he held to two runs and six hits.
"Not taking anything away from Cupertino, but Carlmont was a little better team," he said. "I tried to keep the ball down and let my defense play and it worked. ... to go seven innings two games in a row and beat Carlmont, this was my biggest win."
In a wide-open Peninsula Athletic League Ocean Division, Kung is the type of pitcher that gives the Cougars (2-4) hope of competing to finish in the upper division – and perhaps even better.
"When he's on the mound, he's giving everyone else confidence because he's competing," said Half Moon Bay coach Brian Anderson. "He's not letting anything rattle him."
There's a rhythm to the piano that translates to the pitcher's mound, Kung says.
"In baseball, you have a feel. You can feel all your pitches," he said. "You get that same feel with the piano. A song is flowing. You're playing perfectly. It's sounds really beautiful, and you just keep playing. You're not thinking. You're kind of in a trance."
He's partial to contemporary music. The works of Ludovico Einaudi is a favorite – for now, but it's becoming something where his favorite piece is the one in which he's currently immersed.
He loves playing the piano. And right now, he is loving pitching more than ever – maybe because Kung finds himself in the zone.
He's pitching better than ever. It all started on a cold Sunday in late January when he made his final tournament appearance before the start of the high school season.
Kung faced six hitters. He struck out all of them.
"Once I got in my groove, the only thing that, the only thing I was thinking was 'Throw strikes,'" he said. "It was just 'throw strikes.'"
That outing gave him a boost, he thinks.
"Mentally, it like, boosted my confidence," he said. "It gave me the confidence that I can compete at this level."
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