Wes Cunningham

Classroom

Cunningham has maintained above a 3.0 GPA all four years with an overall 3.35 average.  He was named an ESPN The Magazine CoSIDA First-Team Academic All-District selection in 2008 and 2009.  He is majoring in history with a minor in archaeology, and will graduate in August after completing an archaeology excavation class over the summer.  His career interests are to continue playing baseball for as long as possible, but then pursue a master’s degree and eventually a doctorate in history or archaeology and continue with a career in that respective field, teaching at the college level and writing.

Character

Cunningham has been a part of a team for many years and operates very well with the teamwork approach.  Although Murray State does not officially name captains of the team, as a senior, Wes is considered one of the leaders.  There have been many times he has played ill or injured so as not to let the team down.  Whether it be on the field, in the weight room, or in the classroom, his work ethic is strong.  Because baseball requires traveling during the season, he has consistently done papers and homework early.  He will also work while on the trips to write papers.  He often takes more classes during the season because he finds that the down time on the road trips, in the hotels and on the bus, is perfect for getting work taken care of.  He is always prepared in the class room and on the field.

Community

As a team, the Racers have put on clinics for kids, participated in food drives and walked in an ALS walk to benefit a former Murray State player who is ill.  He was one of the players picked to address the Rotary Club last year to let the community leaders know of some needs that the baseball team had.  His summer team also provided opportunities to work with children to improve baseball skills.  He has worked at multiple camps for children in Louisville, and also driven around Louisville in order to collect furniture and other things for a refugee family that his church brought to America.  He also participated in the canned food drive for the Student Athlete Advisory Counsel at Murray State, and spent one month in Arizona as a summer worker for a YoungLife camp.

Competition

Cunningham is a two-time First-Team All-Ohio Valley Conference selection at two different positions and is a preseason first-team selection in 2010.  He is rated as the 87th best player according to the College Baseball Blog.  He ranks as Murray State’s career leader with a .393 career batting average.  Over the summer, he helped the El Dorado Broncos capture the NBC World Series and was selected by Baseball America as the top prospect in the Jayhawk League.