- Kellogg Community College is seeded eighth
- Bears take a 36-24 record into the tournament
- DMACC making its first appearance in the tournament since 2012
The DMACC baseball team will meet Kellogg Community College (KCC) in the first round of the 2024 National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division II Baseball World Series at Enid, Okla.
The Bears, 36-24 this season, and KCC will open tournament play with a 10 a.m. game on May 25. DMACC is the tournament's No. 9 seed and KCC is seeded eighth. The winner will go against top-seeded LSU-Eunice (LSUE) at 1 p.m. on May 26 and the loser will go to the consolation bracket of the double-elimination tournament.
KCC is 43-10 and brings a nine-game winning streak into the tournament. Sophomore Aaron Piasecki leads the Bruins in hitting at .486 and in runs batted in with 61. Sophomore henry Stemkey is KCC's top pitcher at 8-1 with a 2.76 earned run average.
"They're super fundamentally and are coached extremely well," DMACC baseball coach Nic Mishler said of KCC. "They'll execute bunts really well and hit and run and do those kinds of things so we have to be ready and execute on the defensive side of things. They don't strike out much so you have to be ready with two strikes pitching-wise."
DMACC brings some momentum into the game, having won six of its last seven games. The Bears swept the NJCAA Region 11 tournament with four consecutive victories and then won two of three games against Dakota County Technical College (DCTC) in the North Plains District tournament at Rosemount, Minn., to advance to the national championship for the first time since 2012.
"Our guys are playing well," Mishler said. "They're focused and haven't had any lapses in their focus. They've been dialed in and it's been fun to watch."
DMACC sophomore Chance Key of Waverly is expected to be on the mound for the Bears in their tournament opener. Key is unbeaten this season at 9-0 with a 1.94 ERA. He has 81 strikeouts in 78 and two-thirds innings pitched and is averaging 9.27 strikeouts per nine innings.
Sophomore J.C. Dermody of Council Bluffs and freshman Brennan Haman of West Fargo, N.D. are 4-1 and 5-0 respectively. Dermody carries a 5.54 ERA and Haman is at 0.78. Sophomore Ty Madison of Omaha, Neb., and freshman Carter Woollums of Johnston also have four wins apiece for DMACC.
"I think something we've done really well that we need to continue to do is throw a lot of strikes," Mishler said. "We've only had eight walks in our last seven games."
Sophomore Cael Boever of Sioux City is DMACC's top hitter with a .383 average and freshman Kaden Frommelt of Marion and sophomores Camden Kaufman of Waukee and Cory Bantam of Woodbine are next at .368, .365 and .338 respectively. Kaufman leads the Bears in home runs (14) and runs batted in (71). Frommelt and sophomore Dillion Kuehl have nine home runs apiece and Boever has hit six. Boever is second to Kaufman in RBIs with 51 and Kuehl, sophomore Jaylen Ziegler of Urbandale and Bantam have driven in 42, 39 and 37 runs respectively.
Mishler said keys for DMACC include being ready for what's immediately ahead and not worry about what has happened or what could happen next.
"This time of year, you have to play really good defense," Mishler said. "We've hit the ball well and scored a bunch of runs which is great but we've played solid defense. This time of year, the ones who pick (the baseball) up, catch it and throw it straight are the ones that have the most success and we've got to continue that."
The tournament will continue through May 31 at David Allen Memorial Ballpark in Enid, Okla. The championship game is scheduled for May 31 and a second championship game, if necessary, would be played on June 1.