When they were blessed with the birth of a son, legend has it Robert and Valerie Quick of Belton, Mo., decided to make sure he would stand out.

So, they named him Kodiak Cochise Quick.

Twenty-two years later, he stands out, all right, but it is on the mound and has more to do with his pitching.

"Kody," as he is better known these days, is the winningest single-season pitcher in University of Kansas baseball history and is scheduled to start against the University of Hawai'i Friday in the opening game of the NCAA regional at Corvallis, Ore.

At 11-4 this year and the winningest pitcher in the Big 12 Conference, Quick's pitching has pretty much spoken for itself. The name, however, is something else. "I get asked about it a lot," Quick said.

"My parents just wanted something real original, so they gave me the first name — Kodiak — like the bear," Quick said. "When I was born I was real fat. Not real tall, but fat. And they gave me my middle name, Cochise, from my grandfather who is (Native American). I think they hoped I would get the nickname 'K.C.' but it never stuck. I wish I had a better story but that's the way it is."

He was good enough on the mound (a 17-strikeout no-hitter) and in the classroom (salutatorian) in high school to get letters and a look from UH. "I didn't even know they had a baseball team out there then," Quick said.

Ultimately, Quick accepted a scholarship to Stanford, where he pitched in two College World Series for the Cardinal. But wanting to be "an impact player" and not finding contentment in coming out of the bullpen on the Farm, Quick transferred to KU, where he has been a major figure in the resurgence of a Jayhawks program that is 42-23 and ranked No. 22.

Together with closer Don Czyz (6-0, 18 saves and 1.62 earned run average), they form one of the toughest one-two pitching combos in college baseball. "You don't want to fall behind them," UH coach Mike Trapasso said.

The mound is where the Jayhawks have chosen to make their stand, scrimping on scholarships elsewhere in the lineup to escape what has traditionally been a second-division Big 12 finish and win the conference tournament this year for the first time.

"I knew I had to gamble more on pitching if we were going to improve," said KU coach Ritch Price, who "rolled the dice" and instead of investing half of the 11.7 allowable NCAA scholarships to pitching committed 8.5.

"My feeling was that I took over a program that had five straight losing seasons, playing in one of the toughest conferences in America and we were going to have to do something to turn the program around," Price said.

Thanks to Kodiak Cochise, you could say it has also been a Quick turnaround.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.