DENVER • Two of baseball’s best rookie pitchers toured the Air Force Academy on Friday, bringing an early Father’s Day moment to coach Mike Kazlausky. Former Falcon and current Major League Baseball phenom Paul Skenes led the proceedings, showing his Pittsburgh Pirates teammate Jared Jones all the top attractions. They watched cadets jump from planes from the airfield.
They sat in a glider. Jones took his turn in a virtual-reality flight simulator. Skenes showed off his former dorm, the footprints where cadets are whisked into basic training, and together they paid their respects at the wall of fallen graduates.
“I’ll be honest, I was a pretty proud dad yesterday — pseudo dad,” said Kazlausky, an academy grad, former Air Force pilot and coach of the baseball program for the past 14 years — including the stint from 2021 to 2022, when Skenes starred for the Falcons. “Having Paul here on campus and listening to him speak of his experiences and how proud he is of being here, it made me proud.” The only moment of chaos on the brief visit came when Skenes came to say goodbye to Kazlausky in full view of the youth assembled for a baseball camp.
The campers were oblivious of Jones’ identity, but none seemed to miss the 6-foot-6, 240-pound Skenes — already making a claim as the most famous former Air Force athlete just six games into his big-league career — as they flocked toward him before Kazlausky insisted the 22-year-old rookies head out of town for their.