The AMOUNT of energy the ball has doesn't change. It's 294 joules in Darwin's hand, and it's still 294 joules when the ball hits the ground. It's all PE before he let's it go, and it steadily changes from PE to KE all the way down.
It BEGINS to turn into KE immediately, when Darwin lets go of the ball, and it starts to fall.
More and more PE turns into KE as the ball falls, all the way down.
When the ball hits the ground, it has no more PE left. All of its mechanical energy is then KE.
