Storm Wilson was an accomplished switch hitter in high school. He was the Commonwealth Journal Player of the Year as a high school senior at Somerset High School, hitting .557 with three homers, 13 triples and 25 steals. Success was not something new to Wilson. But as he got going in the fall of his first collegiate semester, while also trying to learn the ropes of becoming a strictly left-handed hitter, he found SEC competition to be quite stiff. “It was tough, I didn’t have a good fall,” Wilson remembered. “I hit under .200, .160 or something. It was hard. I hit .600 in high school. So experiencing failure for the first time was tough and it was hard to get over.”Wilson, a native of Science, Hill, Ky., spent his redshirt season working feverishly to hone his craft. With the help of longtime UK hitting coach Brian Green, Wilson started focusing on his skill set as a speedy left-handed hitter. He had an all-star 2013 summer in the Prospect League, finding his stroke with a .288 average in 55 games, stealing 15 bases.Somewhat of an unknown to UK and Southeastern Conference fans in 2014, Wilson began the season as a back-up outfielder to proven standouts Kyle Barrett and Austin Cousino, and junior college hitting machine Ka’ai Tom. He made his first two appearances off the bench as a defensive replacement the first two weeks, before he was rewarded with his first career start as the DH at Old Dominion. After AJ Reed belted a two-out solo homer to tie the game in the seventh inning and the Wildcats managed to load the bases in a 5-5 game, Wilson came to the plate. He was carrying a 0-for-3 with two looking strikeouts and was facing a veteran senior reliever for the Monarchs with the bases loaded in a tie game on the road in his first career start. “It was my first actual start. After redshirting the year before that, any player is trying to get some validation for why they should be there,” Wilson said. “I was still thinking about if I really belonged at this level. Going 0-for-3 in your first game as a starter, that ain’t easy. Especially getting those two Ks.” Wilson smacked the game-winning, two-RBI single to rightfield to lift UK to a 7-5 win, with Ryne Combs working hitless relief to lock down the win. “When I got up there and had that opportunity, I was just thinking about how I need to prove myself, I had to be strong and be tough,” Wilson said. “They went left on left and I looked at BG (Brian Green) wondering if I was going to hit, and he kept me in there. Then when I got that hit I knew that I could do this at this level and since then it kind of took off.”That signaled that Wilson was going to get more playing time, and he started the next game vs. St. John’s and the following weekend vs. Eastern Michigan. With Tom nursing a hamstring injury, Wilson was called on to serve as UK’s leftfielder during the SEC series opener at Alabama. Wilson showcased the kind of toughness in the box and relentless quest for a quality at-bat that helped change the dynamic of a potent UK lineup. “One at-bat that sticks out to me that I had was against Alabama, it was my first SEC AB against Spencer Turnbull,” Wilson said. “It was a 10-pitch at-bat and I ended up lining out to centerfield. Everyone in the dugout was on my side, they were yelling for me, I got out but they were still going crazy. That is when I kind of turned that switch that people admire a player being a tough out. Since then that it has clicked for me that what I need to do to help the team win is be tough and get some (quality at-bats) going.”The Wildcats went on to lead all BCS conference schools in nearly every offensive category, including runs scored, with Wilson a scrappy hitter that forced pitchers into extended at-bats, pouncing on mistakes and playing the game with an infectious competitive fire. “One of our keys as a ball club last year at the plate was to be really tough, be really tough with two strikes and be a hard out. I took that to heart,” Wilson said. “I am not a guy that is going to hit 15 bombs every year. I’m not that kind of player. I am an on-base guy, I’ll take the walks, the hit-by-pitches, do anything I can to help the team by getting on base.”Overall during his freshman season, Wilson hit .289 in 45 games, making the final 21 starts of the year as UK’s rightfielder. He tied for the SEC freshmen home run lead with four, belting six doubles and driving gin 20 runs – with 10 coming as two-out RBI. He reached base safely in 39 of his 45 games, hitting .409 in April and .305 in May. Now as an experienced performer in the nation’s top conference, Wilson will enter the 2015 season with a whole new set up internal and external expectations. He will be expected to be a vocal and emotional leader for a youthful UK lineup and continue to churn out quality at-bats at a strong clip, while also managing the challenge of playing in some of the best venues in college baseball. “I am actually really excited to go to some of these venues,” Wilson said. “As a team, when we got in a tough environment last year, we got better. That is kind of when we hit our stride. I am pumped.”