For the short-term, Sam’s plan is to climb the rungs and try to make it to the Majors. He had three RBI in four games with the Fireflies—all in the first inning of two separate games, but he finished his four-year career with the Falcons with a .377 batting average over 206 games. In that time he slapped 77 doubles and drove in 162 RBI. Sam attributes a lot of that success to how you’re trained in the Air Force. “They teach you how to be disciplined and they emphasize attention to detail.” He said. While at Air Force, Kulasingam walked 118 times and he only struck out 102 times. There aren’t too many people who have played 200 college games and ended their career with more walks than punchouts. He did have a teammate that he was able to look up to while he was an underclassman. Paul Skenes played with Kulasingam at Air Force the first two seasons he was there. Skenes is currently the ace for the Pittsburgh Pirates staff. While at Air Force, he had a 2.72 ERA and had great numbers that allowed him to transfer to LSU and later end up as a top pick in the MLB Draft. Skenes has faired even better in his first season in The Bigs. He has started 16 games to the tune of a 2.30 ERA with 121 strikeouts in just under 100 innings pitched. Kulasingam was able to catch a game in St. Louis in person, but an even cooler moment for Sam was when Air Force was on the road May 11 and they got the opportunity to watch Skenes make his debut from the hotel room. The whole team that was still at Air Force from when Skenes was there put a group chat together to talk about the game. Of course, Skenes looks a bit different as a pitcher now then he did back at Air Force. “He was good while he was at Air Force, but the shape his pitches have with the added velo and movement has made his pitches profile a lot differently.” Sam mentioned. “You have a fastball topping out over 100 at the top of the zone, a splinker at 94, a change-up that plays off that and a sweeper that’s gross.” All of us progress as we advance and the path that Kulasingam hopes to go towards is flying the fighter jets after baseball is over. “Fighters are the coolest. It’s very team orientated like competitive sports. You have to trust your wingmen next to you; you need great communication, and it requires a lot of hard work. Plus, you’re surrounded by a lot of driven people in that environment.” Sam explains. Until he gets to that stage though, he’ll finish his baseball career. The Fireflies had opportunity to watch Sam salute the flag four times at Segra Park and it was special for the fans. It’s still special for the prospect too. “It honestly still gives me chills every time I salute for the National Anthem,” Kulasingam reflects. “I’ve done it a couple hundred times for baseball games and for everything else I’ve saluted it for. It’s special because every time that anthem plays, I realize that my purpose is bigger than baseball and at some point I will serve to defend our country and defend our freedom.”
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