- Weather has hampered DMACC's outdoor practices
- Bears return 11 sophomores from 2024
- Head coach Nic Mishler had named his starting pitchers for the series
The DMACC baseball team will begin the 2025 spring season with a four-game series against Northeast Oklahoma College-Enid (NEOC) February 1 and 2 at Enid, Okla. The two teams will play doubleheaders each day.
DMACC is coming off a 38-26 season in 2024. The Bears finished seventh in the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) at 18-15 and then captured the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Region 11 championship and the North Plains District championship to advance to the 2024 NJCAA Division II Baseball World Series for the first time since 2012. DMACC tied for fifth place in the tournament and will begin the 2025 season ranked 17th in the NJCAA Division II preseason poll.
DMACC's outdoor practice sessions have been limited because of weather issues. But the Bears have been able to accomplish many things inside the Fareway Fieldhouse on the DMACC-Boone Campus.
"We have been able to get outside the last couple of days and (Thursday) we are going to go to Norwalk, get on some tuft and practice for an hour and a half or so," DMACC baseball coach Nic Mishler said.
Mishler said he isn't overly concerned about not having practiced much outside before going into the season-opening series.
"I think there are some strengths to it because hitters are seeing live pitches in batting cages inside with not the best lighting and a lot of times the ball looks a little bit bigger to them when they get outside with better lighting," Mishler said. "Playing fly balls and ground balls, you just can't make those up inside and it's difficult for them to see the ball off the bat."
Top returnees from last season include sophomore catcher/infielder Kaden Frommelt of Marion and sophomore pitcher Carter Woollums of Johnston. Frommelt batted .343 with nine home runs and 25 runs batted in last season and Woollums was 5-3 with a 5.42 earned run average and 48 strikeouts.
Other returning sophomores include Jackson Manning of Keosauqua, pitcher Jaqson Tejada of Marion, outfielder Colin Driscoll of Waukee, outfielder Carter Bryan of Johnston, pitcher Ty Thompson of Council Bluffs, pitcher Brennan Haman of West Fargo, N.D., pitcher Konner Entz of West Fargo, N.D., infielder Matt Rivers of Colfax and pitcher Bobby Uthe of Ames. All nine saw playing time in 2024.
Frommelt has the inside track to starting at catcher with redshirt freshman Gage Mollendor of Johnston and true freshman Brock Moore of Urbandale also vying for playing time at the position.
Around the infield, Rivers and freshman Jordan Leininger of Fargo, N.D. are getting consideration at first base with freshmen Brady Walton of Waukee and Blake Crancer of Normal, Ill., vying for the starting job at second base.
Walton, freshman Cole Baumgart of Clarinda and Frommelt are getting consideration at third base and Manning is slated to start at shortstop.
Driscoll and freshman Martin Smith of Boone are being looked at for left field and redshirt sophomore Archer Ogbourne of Carlisle is penciled in to start in center field. The right field job will go to freshman Jake Espeland of Des Moines, Bryan or freshman Trey Franck of Marion.
Bryan, Leininger and freshman Isaac Zoske of Alleman are being looked at as the designated hitter.
Mishler has already decided on his starting pitchers for the NEOC series. They are Woollums, Entz, Thompson and freshman Andrew Theiss of Clear Lake. Haman, Uthe, Tejada and freshman Nick Cox of Polk City are the top relief pitchers with several freshman also being looked at for a relief role.
"I think the strength of our team is going to be the versatility and options that we have," Mishler said. "Offensively I think we are a very athletic team. I think this group is going to have a chance to do things a little bit different from last year and I think the top end of our pitching staff has a chance to be really special."
Mishler said he thinks his team will be able to hit and run and steal bases and not have to depend on the long ball as much as last season.
"These guys can still drive the ball into the gaps and over the fence but I think we're going to be a team that's going to run and take the extra base more than we did a year ago," Mishler said, adding that his main concerns are replacing key players who completed their eligibility last season.
"With every new team, it's getting them acclimated to playing with each other and learning how to win together," Mishler said. "I definitely feel that we have a team that can make a push to go to the College World Series and I think we're as talented as we've ever been. The ingredients don't always make a championship team. It's the way they play together and all those things. We can be a team that does (goes to the College World Series) again, but it's a tough schedule and we have to focus on winning the game at hand and keep that mindset for a full year."
Following the NEOC series DMACC will travel to Irving, Texas, for games Feb. 14, 15 and 16 and will play games at Hutchinson, Kan., and El Dorado, Kan., before opening ICCAC play March 19 against Northeast (Neb.) Community College (NECC) at Norfolk, Neb. The home opener is scheduled for March 22 against Iowa Central Community College (ICCC).