Part 1 (Storm Wilson) – Part 2 (JaVon Shelby) – Part 3 (Kyle Barrett) – Part 4 (Andrew Nelson) – Part 5 (Thomas Bernal) – Part 6 (Zack Brown) – Part 7 (Spencer Jack) – Part 8 (Ka’ai Tom) It was the biggest start of his career. Kentucky was facing off against Kansas in the opener of the 2014 NCAA Louisville Regional. With a potential matchup against a lefty-laden Louisville lineup in the second round and a right-handed dominant Kansas squad, UK head coach Gary Henderson turned to his sophomore standout righty, Kyle Cody, to make his first NCAA Tournament start. Henderson and the Wildcats had the utmost confidence in Cody, who just nine days earlier had handcuffed the Southeastern Conference Champion Florida Gators to two runs over 5.1 innings in a win in the SEC Tournament. Things did not go the way Cody pictured them when he laid down to go to sleep the night before. One of the top arms in college baseball, Cody was rated as the seventh-best sophomore in the nation in the preseason by Baseball America. He certainly had the stuff, makeup and experience to fire a gem and set up the Wildcats for a winner’s bracket matchup. After a seven-pitch walk to open the game, Cody misfired on his throw to first base on a sacrifice bunt attempt, scoring a run and putting himself in an early jam. An RBI sacrifice bunt scored the second run and an RBI double put the Wildcats in a 3-0 hole. Henderson turned to the bullpen in the must-win situation, ending his outing.  “That motivated me more in summer ball. It helped me get going up there,” Cody said. “I feel like that has just carried on into this year. All the success I had up there (in summer ball), that feeling has just carried on as I came back here. Just made me want to become a better player and made me look forward to this year even more. I just can’t wait to get back on the mound and try to get back to that spot. And prove that we can win a regional and move on.” The memory of suffering the loss in the NCAA Tournament lidlifter was not something Cody could easily erase. He went to work at it however, venturing to the prestigious Cape Cod League for a summer baseball experience that helped him erase the memories of the regional start. Cody had a great summer, earning the starting pitching honor for the Western Division in the Cape Cod League All-Star Game, with his UK teammate Kyle Barrett starting in centerfield for the Eastern Division. A 6-foot-7, 245-pounder, Cody finished his summer with a 2.72 ERA, tossing 36.1 innings with just 11 walks and 34 strikeouts. He ranked eighth in strikeouts and 10th in ERA in the CCBL. “It helped me a lot to face the talented hitters that you face in the Cape,” Cody said. “Facing really good hitters and being able to throw to all types of hitters. It wouldn’t really help me if I went somewhere in the summer and didn’t face real competition. It really helped me a lot because it allowed me to work on my off-speed pitches and secondary stuff, which got a whole lot better up there. The coaching was phenomenal. Jim Lawler, my pitching coach, was really good. He helped me with some mechanical things and some mental things and just calmed me down a lot. It was an overall good experience for me this summer.”Cody, who has a 3.18 ERA in his two-year SEC career, enters his junior season ranked in the preseason as the 17th-best prospect available for the 2015 MLB Draft. He is also a Baseball America third-team preseason All-America selection. “I think there’s two things: one, he has to stay healthy and two is get aggressive,” Henderson detailed. “You know, ownership, maturity, responsibility to daily performance. He’s done a really good job of maturing as an individual. He works really hard, he cares. He’s improved his body, he’s a lot stronger, he’s healthy right now, I think. He’s a pivotal part of the team, there’s no question about that. He’s a guy who’s in a gene pool, a skill level that’s capable of going out and winning baseball games. Maybe not by himself but, boy, [he’s capable of] putting you in a good position through seven innings. He’s a talented kid.”Cody’s relationship with Henderson has also grown over three years and the duo now has a unique trust and reliance on each other. “(Henderson) has a lot more trust in me, now that I’ve been here for three years,” Cody said. “My freshman year he was always dialed in to tell me what to do, and giving me clues, and now he is looking towards me to tell him what is going on. I feel like he has more trust in me and I’ve learned a lot from him in return. Our communication is really good and we work really well together.”Not only will Cody be expected to be a physical leader of the deep UK pitching staff, he will be tasked in a leadership role. “That is a different spot for me right now compared to last year,” Cody said. “I wasn’t looked at as a leader last year because there were some guys ahead of me and I was still trying to learn. Now that most of them are gone it is a little different when some younger guys ask questions about what is going to happen or what happens next. It’s little different but I kind of enjoy it. It gives you a good feeling to help out someone younger who is trying to get to where I’m at right now. It just gives me a good feeling about what the future holds for them and how it can only help us and the program.”