By Robert Fulton

Last year, former Pflugerville High School star Blake Kelso played in the Cape Cod Baseball league, arguably the best summer baseball league in the country. With him were four of his University of Houston teammates, and the lessons learned promise to influence Kelso for years to come.

“It was really fun,” said Kelso, 21, during a recent phone interview. “It’s the premier summer league. You play with the best. I did pretty well for myself. It was a good experience.”

Kelso said he made a tweak to his swing and worked on the transition to a wooden bat from the standard aluminum ones used at the colleigate level. He also worked on the little things that can decide tight baseball games.

“I learned a lot,” said Kelso, who also noted he preferred the New England summer over that of the sweltering Texas heat. “You have to play small ball. You learn the small things.”

According to Kelso, he started the 2010 season off playing well for Houston, but has slumped recently.

“I’m doing OK,” said Kelso, who is batting .317 with 21 RBIs this season. “I’ve had some ups and downs, but I’m doing alright. You know how baseball is. It’s a tough sport to be consistent in.”

The college junior has done some extra work in the batting cage, but understands that anything as simple as a flair in the outfield could get him rolling again.

“I’m starting to see the ball again,” he said. “I’ll stick with what I do.”

The Houston team itself has seen it’s ups and downs this season. The squad won seven of eight during a span in March, lost five straight in April, and recently won four out of five before losing two games to Tulane at home. The team now stands at 20-26.

“We just have to put everything together,” Kelso said, noting that pitching, defense and offense all have to click at the same time. “You want to be good, you have to do it all at once. We have to be consistent with it.”

After a great senior season that included All-State Second Team and District 14-5A honors at Pflugerville High, Kelso chose Houston for the opportunity to start.

“I wanted to get on the field right away,” said Kelso, who gets back to Pflugerville on occasion to visit family and hunt.

As a freshman, he paid immediate dividends in college, and was named a Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American. Last season as a sophomore, he earned both All-Conference USA Second Team and Conference USA All-Academic team honors.

Coming up is a make or break time for the Houston baseball season. They have eight games left to qualify for the Conference USA championship tournament. Houston is hosting, so if the squad makes the cut, the team could use the home crowd and friendly confines to its advantage.

“We just have to play together,” said Kelso, an economics major. “We have to put it all together.”

As far as this summer, Kelso doesn’t know what he’ll be doing. He qualifies for the draft this year, and a strong finish could influence his stock.

“I’m not sure yet,” said Kelso of this summer. “It depends on how the season unfolds.”