Gulf Breeze High School graduate Kyle Brown currently plays second base for the Pensacola Pelicans. His high school coach compares him to Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia. Jason Thompson/Splash Kyle Brown is getting to ‘live the dream’ – and he didn’t have to go very far to do it.

Brown, a 2006 GBHS graduate, recently completed his college baseball career at the University of West Florida. A little more than a month later, Brown signed with the Pensacola Pelicans, who play on the UWF campus.

“It’s unbelievable – to actually get the opportunity to keep playing,” said Brown, who has played in all but seven games for the Pelicans since signing on June 9. The Pels are 2-5 when Brown hasn’t played, but they’re 21-13 with him, including Sunday’s 5-4 win at El Paso.

The win snapped the Pelicans’ three-game losing streak. Brown's first inning single snapped a personal 0- for-12 streak.

One of the biggest differences from going from college to the professional ranks is using a wooden bat.

“It’s different, using them every day,” Brown said. “I can tell it’s starting to feel better. It’s just a timing thing – just get a good swing and put the bat on it.”

“All the pitchers, they’re all quality guys,” he said. “The competition, day in, day out is a lot tougher and playing every day.”

Batting in the eighth or ninth spots, Brown doesn’t get many chances to drive in runs. His last one came on July 9, when he got credit for the game-winning RBI in a 10-5 win over El Paso. Brown fouled off several pitches before hitting a grounder to second that he was able to beat out to avoid an inning ending double play.

The Pelicans scored nine runs in that inning to continue what would eventually be a 15-game winning streak.

“His AB didn’t surprise me,” Pelican manager Talmadge Nunnari said. “He is hitting over .300 with runners in scoring position with less than two out and .556 with runners in scoring position with two outs. The stats tell me he is a pretty relentless hitter with runners in scoring position. Those are the numbers to me that reflect the effectiveness of a hitter during the course of a game or season.”

Brown is one of six rookies on the Pelicans team. Brown will graduate after the fall semester with a degree in exercise science. He hopes to become a graduate assistant for the Argos in 2011.

Brown led UWF his senior season with a .375 batting average. His .463 on base percentage was also tops on the Argos in 2010.

His high school coach Randy Renfroe compares Brown to Boston Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia.

“He always gives you a good glove...he’s like having another coach on the field,” Renfroe said. “That’s one of the intangibles he had when he was in high school. Plus, he gets on base a lot, with walks and bunts. (The Pelicans are) getting a pretty solid player.”

The coaching traits come in large part from his father Jody, who’s been a longtime assistant to Renfroe at GBHS.

“He’s always been there when I need to talk or when I don’t need to talk,” Brown said. “He always keeps me on an even keel.”

Baseball has always been a big thing in the Brown household – his father and his two younger brothers, Caleb and Colby all played baseball for the Dolphins. Jody had GBHS’ singleseason home run record until 2009.

“It’s always been what I loved doing,” Brown said. “I’m going to try to do it as long as I can.”

While coaching could be in Jody and Becky Brown’s oldest son’s future, he hopes it’s not anytime soon.

When asked what he’d like to be doing five years from now, he said “hopefully still playing ball – that's the goal. Play as long as possible.”