{"id":1286,"date":"2025-09-04T09:00:07","date_gmt":"2025-09-04T09:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/?p=1286"},"modified":"2025-09-04T12:05:39","modified_gmt":"2025-09-04T12:05:39","slug":"from-beckley-to-the-big-leagues-of-innovation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/2025\/09\/04\/from-beckley-to-the-big-leagues-of-innovation\/","title":{"rendered":"From Beckley to the big leagues of innovation"},"content":{"rendered":"
When Kevin Malay first set foot on Marshall University\u2019s campus in the early 2000s, he had no idea his career would one day intersect with the world of college baseball \u2013 including with the Thundering Herd. A two-time Marshall graduate, including earning a master\u2019s in Information Systems, Kevin carved a path that combined his love of technology with his lifelong passion for sports.<\/p>\n

Today, he stands at the forefront of a technological shift that\u2019s transforming America\u2019s pastime as the senior vice president at Blackhawk Enterprise, the software company behind Game Day Signals \u2013 one of the leading companies in a developing industry that provides baseball and softball teams with a way to digitally communicate on a wrist device instead of through traditional hand signals. \"\"<\/p>\n

Kevin\u2019s academic journey wasn\u2019t straightforward. After his freshman year of college, he stepped away to serve in the Air National Guard, before ultimately enrolling at Marshall, where he excelled academically, graduating summa cum laude.<\/p>\n

Graduate school wasn\u2019t initially part of the plan, but a last-minute decision and a hastily scheduled GRE exam led him back into the classroom.<\/p>\n

\"\"
On-field device players wear to see the signals.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

From there, Kevin built a two-decade career at the U.S. Department of Labor\u2019s Mine Safety and Health Training Academy in Beaver, West Virginia. His work focused on online course development and management, skills that would prove unexpectedly vital when an innovative side project came calling.<\/p>\n

And what began as a side hustle among baseball enthusiasts soon grew into a national phenomenon.<\/p>\n

Kevin\u2019s brother, Keith Malay,and fellow software developer Chris Cofer, a former college baseball player and coach, had an idea: what if baseball teams could securely send signals electronically, eliminating miscommunication and curbing the risk of sign-stealing?<\/p>\n

The first prototype was cobbled together inside an Altoids tin. Testing began at James Madison University, and after years of NCAA deliberation and trial waivers, the technology was finally approved for use in 2021, going into effect for the 2021-2022 academic year. The timing couldn\u2019t have been better \u2014 just as baseball was reckoning with the Houston Astros\u2019 sign-stealing scandal and new rules designed to speed up the pace of play.<\/p>\n

Demand exploded.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe weren\u2019t really sure we\u2019d ever sell a unit,\u201d Kevin recalls. \u201cAnd then, when the rules changed, the floodgates opened.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWe weren\u2019t really sure we\u2019d ever sell a unit. And then, when the rules changed, the floodgates opened.<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t- Kevin Malay<\/span>\n\t<\/div>\n\n

Game Day signals began as a passion project and now equips more than 1,000 teams across college, high school, travel leagues and even Little League baseball and softball.<\/p>\n

The system is deceptively simple: coaches enter numeric codes on a keypad, which instantly appear as clear instructions on players\u2019 wrist-worn devices. What once took hand gestures, charts, and guesswork now happens in under a second.<\/p>\n

The devices are used by college baseball powers like Oregon State, Florida State, Virginia, and where it all began at James Madison \u2014 but the school using the system that means the most to Kevin is Marshall.<\/p>\n

For Kevin, the journey back to his alma mater has been particularly rewarding. The Thundering Herd baseball team using Game Day Signals represents a true full-circle moment \u2014 that connects his academic foundation with his entrepreneurial success.\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cCouldn\u2019t be any cooler,\u201d Kevin says with a smile. \u201cTo see Marshall using this technology, the same place that gave me the tools to start my career, that means a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tTo see Marshall using this technology, the same place that gave me the tools to start my career, that means a lot..<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t- Kevin Malay<\/span>\n\t<\/div>\n\n

Game Day Signals continues to evolve with new features, mobile integration and expanded markets. While professional baseball remains a possibility, Kevin sees the biggest impact at the college, high school and travel levels, where adoption continues to grow.<\/p>\n

Through it all, Marshall remains central to his story.<\/p>\n

\u201cA degree doesn\u2019t just teach you a subject,\u201d he says. \u201cIt opens doors. Sometimes those doors lead you exactly where you expect, and sometimes, like in my case, they lead you somewhere you never imagined.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Kevin, that unexpected path has led to mornings filled with conversations with college baseball coaches, afternoons tinkering with new software features and the satisfaction of knowing he helped change the way the game is played.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Kevin Malay first set foot on Marshall University\u2019s campus in the early 2000s, he had no idea his career would one day intersect with the world of college baseball \u2013 including with the Thundering Herd. A two-time Marshall graduate, including earning a master\u2019s in Information Systems, Kevin carved a path that combined his love […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":619,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1286","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-moments"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1286","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/619"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1286"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1286\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1296,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1286\/revisions\/1296"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}