Division II College World Series
The University of Central Missouri Mules made an appearance in the NCAA Division II World Series in Cary, North Carolina in late May and early June.
Four current Ban Johnson League players were on the roster for the World Series: UMB Bank outfielder Noah Arni, BJ Raider catcher Nico Codemo, Seaboard catcher John Fairchild and Natural Baseball right-handed pitcher Kyle Francis.
“It was an awesome experience to go out there and compete with the best of the best,” Fairchild said. “I learned that baseball is a humbling game. You have to build a great relationship with all of your teammates to be able to have the kind of success we had. Everyone had each other’s backs the whole season and it paid off for us in the long run.”
Several BJ alums dotted the UCMO roster: Colton Hilbrenner (Milgram Mustangs), Matt Milner (Milgram Mustangs), Matt Elliott (Natural Baseball), Lucas Williams (A’s), Billy Mahoney (Milgram Mustangs), Tayler Ross (BJ Raiders) and assistant coach Damien Stambersky (MSBL Royals).
Individual Honors
Based on information supplied by the managers:
Two Natural Baseball Academy players were honored. Jack Pauley was all-conference at Western Nebraska Community College and Trevor McClanahan was freshman of the year in the KCAC for Ottawa University.
Milgram Mustang catcher Nate Goff was a Heart of America Conference second team pick for Graceland University.
Seaboard players with honors: Catcher Ryan Cedeno was an All-State pick in Classes 1A-2A for Pittsburg Colgan High School; Zach Hanna was first team Region II and Northern District for Iowa Western; Mitch Rogers was Region 6 All-Tournament for JCCC.
Seaboard players from JCCC were honored by the KJCCC – shortstop Nick McMurray, relief pitcher Ben Nelson and utility Mitch Rogers were second team and outfielder Chez Burgess and pitcher Brennan Lewis were honorable mention.
