Kolby Byrd has been a Cougar, a Bulldog, a Wolf and a Cardinal the last four years during his baseball-playing career. Now he’ll be a Muckdog.

     As call-ups go, Kolby Byrd got one he didn’t expect last week. Less than 24 hours after reporting to Low-A Johnson City, Tenn., Byrd was called up to Batavia, N.Y. as a catcher/third baseman in the St. Louis Cardinals system. The Muckdogs began their season Monday night in the New York-Penn League.

     The move, one Byrd admits he’s happy about, came just as he was getting ready to practice at Johnson City.

     “I’m happy I’m moving up,” said Byrd. “It really caught me off guard.”

     At Spring Training and extended Spring Training, Byrd impressed Cardinals brass during workouts at Jupiter, Fla.

     “During extended Spring Training I worked mainly at catcher but I also played a little third base and liked it,” added a soft-spoken Byrd.

     Cardinals scouts have been impressed with Byrd’s bat the most, he batted .500, with 11 doubles and a home run in 28 extended spring training games played at the Cardinals Spring Training complex in Jupiter  the last two months.

     “We play a lot of the same teams in extended, like the Marlins and the Mets,” added Byrd, who the Cardinals drafted in the 13th round last year out of Co-Lin Community College. “You see a lot of good players, and some Major Leaguers that are on rehab-assignments.”

     Byrd played against pitchers throwing 95 mph on a daily basis. He caught and played third base, a move the Cardinals plan to experiment with him more at  Johnson City, due not having a top prospect at third base in their system.

     “I like catching,” said Byrd, who throws an impressive 1.79 pop-time from home plate to second base. “Third base ain’t bad either, especially if I can move up quicker. I’m ready, no matter what.”

     Byrd was a standout football and baseball player for the Brookhaven Academy Cougars, graduating from high school in 2009. He signed a baseball scholarship with Mississippi State University and was redshirted. After one year in Starkville, he transferred to Co-Lin where he starred for the Wolfpack.