About the Program

About the Program

Last year, 2022-23: 

We had another year of success both on and off the field.

In the classroom, we finished with a Team GPA of 3.55. We had twenty-seven players earn Academic All-American status with a GPA of 3.60-4.00.

On the field we finished with a record of 38-23.  We finished the season with our thirteenth consecutive year with 30+ games, which eclipses the number of 30 win seasons in the 48 years of the program prior to this streak. This occurred in spite of the Covid-Shortened season of 2020-21 limiting us to only 50 games.

For the 15th consecutive year, all of our sophomores were offered baseball scholarships at the 4-year level.

Below is a summary of the last 15 years and each team’s achievements on the field, in the classroom, and what level of 4-year institution the sophomores signed:

2022-23

Record: 38-23

Team GPA: 3.55

Academic All Americans: 27

Sophomore Class Breakdown of 4-year signing: , 5 D-I, 3 D-2, 2 NAIA

 

2021-22

Record: 32-26

Team GPA: 3.57

Academic All Americans: 19

Sophomore Class Breakdown of 4-year signing: 4 D-I, 7 D-II

 

2020-21

Record: 30-24

Team GPA: 3.65

Academic All Americans: 21

Sophomore Class Breakdown of 4-year signing: 5 D-I, 5 D-II

 

2019-20

Record: 16-6

Team GPA: 3.42

Academic All Americans: 14

Sophomore Class Breakdown of 4-year signing: 6 D-I, 6 D-II

 

2018-19

Record: 37-21

Team GPA: 3.50 (3rd in the Nation)

Academic All Americans: 12

Sophomore Class Breakdown of 4-year signing: 10 D-I, 5 D-II

 

2017-18
Record: 41-15
Team GPA: 3.33 (11th in the Nation)
Academic All Americans: 10
Sophomore Class Breakdown of 4-year signing: 8 D-I, 5 D-II

 

2016-17
Record: 38-24
Team GPA: 3.34 (11th in the Nation)
Academic All Americans: 9
Sophomore Class Breakdown of 4-year signing: 7 D-I, 4 D-II

 

2015-16
Record: 37-21
Team GPA: 3.59 (2nd in the Nation)
Academic All Americans: 6
Sophomore Class Breakdown of 4-year signing: 6 D-I, 5 D-II, 1 NAIA

 

2014-15
Record: 32-29
Team GPA: 3.68 (2nd in the Nation)
Academic All Americans: 6
Sophomore Class Breakdown of 4-year signing: 5 D-I, 6 D-II

 

2013-14
Record: 31-27
Team GPA: 3.72 (2nd in the Nation)
Academic All Americans: 7
Sophomore Class Breakdown of 4-year signing: 6 D-I, 4 D-II, 1 NAIA

 

2012-13
Record: 40-17 (3rd most wins in school history)
Team GPA: 3.37 (2nd highest in the Nation and the highest in the conference for the 6th straight year)
Academic All Americans: 5
Sophomore Class Breakdown of 4-year signing: 8 D-I, 3 D-II, 1 NAIA

 

2011-12
Record: 30-26
Team GPA: 3.31 (4th highest in the nation and highest in the conference)
Academic All Americans: 2
Sophomore Class Breakdown of 4-year signing: 10 D-I, 5 D-II, 2 NAIA

 

2010-11
Record: 42-18 (2nd most wins in school history)
Team GPA: 3.33 (4th highest in the nation and highest in the conference)
Academic All Americans: 4
Sophomore Class Breakdown of 4-year signing: 4 D-I, 7 D-II, 1 NAIA

 

2009-10
Record: 27-31
Team GPA: 3.43 (3rd highest in the nation and highest in the conference)
Academic All Americans: 6
Sophomore Class Breakdown of 4-year signing: 4 D-I, 2 D-II, 2 NAIA

 

2008-09
Record: 28-26
Team GPA: 3.27 (6th highest in the nation and highest in the conference)
Academic All Americans: 4
Sophomore Class Breakdown of 4-year signing: 3 D-I, 3 D-II, 1 NAIA

 

Conference & Schedule: We are part of the nationally acclaimed, Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference (KJCCC). There are two divisions in our conference – the East and the West - We are part of the 9 team East division. The Jayhawk Conference is one the elite Junior College conferences in the nation. Our conference is big enough to be an entire Region (VI) on the national level and possesses its own bid to the NJCAA World Series in Grand Junction, CO.

Our conference schedule consists of 4-game Thur/Sat series with a home/home double header at each school’s campus. The weekend schedule was adopted to prevent missed classes due to the early start (1:00pm) of baseball games within the conference and also to assist with exposure since the East Division plays its conference double headers on Thursday and Saturday. The Thursday games allow our players to be seen by D-1 and D-2 schools more since we play on their travel day. We schedule multiple mid-week games which usually occur on Monday’s or Tuesday’s to complete our 56 game schedule. On average, we play almost 66% of our games at home during the season.

 

Our scholarship situation: We are allotted 24 Tuition and Books Baseball Scholarships. We do have academic scholarships that can be applied for and earned prior to arriving on campus or after a player’s freshman year. There are minimum GPA requirements for all levels of academic scholarships that are separate from the NJCAA eligibility rules.

 

Recruiting: When we decide to recruit a player, we see the potential in that player to make an impact on the field. Nothing is promised except that we will leave no stone unturned to help each individual reach his maximum potential from his God given capabilities to become the best person, student, and player on a daily basis.

Playing time is earned - not promised. Due to our small roster size, we cannot make mistakes in recruiting, so if a player decides to be a part of this program, we need him to be productive on the field, in the classroom, and in the community. This is a huge advantage for those who decide to play for us. With our internal decision as a program to have a smaller roster size, we have to build depth on our team by recruiting and signing players who are athletic, versatile, and can play multiple positions – not by signing 70-80 players or trying to have a “JV” team. We develop secondary positions to increase versatility of each player, because in the long run, versatility provides more NCAA D-I and other 4-year options, and options at the 4-year level provide opportunity and opportunity is what Junior College is about.

Our roster size will range from 40-50 players. Many Junior College and 4-year schools have 70-90 players and make cuts throughout the fall semester, all the way to Christmas break. We do not believe in treating players like pieces of meat and do not run our program this way. We are selective and choose who we want as a part of our program and invest in those players who decide to be a part of our program. We do not do cuts at the semester break or any other time of the year.

 

On campus Housing: We require all of our players to live on campus, in the dorm apartments. There are two types of rooms our players live in: 2 bedroom and 3 people or 1 bedroom and 2 people. Each apartment is equipped with a full kitchen (full size fridge, stove/oven, microwave, sink, cabinets and a full bathroom including a bathtub. We do not randomly pair up teammates, we attempt to learn backgrounds and ask questions of each player before we decide who to pair up as roommates and who to place as suite mates. Baseball players live with baseball players only. We have daily breakfast check-ins and mid-morning check-ins at the baseball office. This is possible due to the small campus that we have. It’s a great advantage because it allows our coaches to see our players at least once every day away from the baseball field and get to know them on a personal level which will help on the professional level.

 

Academics: The average class size on campus is 12-18 students (mostly athletes). Classroom sizes are great for one-on-one attention…meaning an excellent chance to achieve a great education. Class attendance is mandatory with numerous grade checks occurring throughout each semester to help keep the coaching staff informed of each player’s academic progress. Study Hall is also required for all freshmen, and for sophomores who have a sub 3.60 GPA. We have 1 specific team goal every academic year– to win a Team GPA National Championship. We feel if we achieve this goal, each individual on the team will have a good foundation for their education, and education is the foundation for their professional life. It is not a cliché here that academics come first, it is a fact. Our coaching staff understands that baseball will be over in a blink, and all our kids will rely on their education for the remainder of their lives.

 

 

Facilities: We do annual improvements to all of our facilities and are always looking for ways to improve what we currently have.

 

Lions Field

Our field is a natural grass playing surface with grass baselines between home to first and third to home. Our dimensions are 310-380-315. Our field can play very small or very large, depending on the Kansas wind. Between the fall of 2008 and the fall of 2012, our playing surface was completely renovated. We replaced our infield dirt, laser graded and sodded our entire infield and foul territory areas, changed types of grass and replanted our entire outfield, implemented a new warning track, repainted the entire facility, placed padded poles in front of the dugouts, built new stone walls down the right and left field lines, and extended our backstop to connect with both dugouts.

In the fall of 2012, we added a webcam to the field to allow parents to watch games from their mobile device or computer when they could not make it in person.

 

In the fall of 2013, we renovated our dugouts by raising the height, replacing the roof and adding signage to the front facing.

 

In the summer of 2014, we laser graded and sprigged our outfield with Bermuda grass to complete the entire surface with athletic field Bermuda.

 

In 2016 we added a row of 10 flag poles behind the left field fence with each flag pole having a pennant flag representing the 10 schools in the East Division of our conference and a brand new scoreboard that houses a state of the art sound system.

 

In 2017 we added 2 sets of bleachers with 88 chair backs and shade canopy’s covering both sets of bleachers.  

 

2018 saw a 3rd set of bleachers with 36 chairbacks and a shade canopy. This completed our 2-year bleacher project and we now feature 124 individual chairbacks for our fans viewing pleasure.

 

In January of 2019, we build a new pitching lab indoor facility solely for the pitchers to have their own facility for their development. In November of 2019 we put up a perimeter fence around our bleachers area to separate the parking from the field and transition our facility from a baseball field to a “ballpark”.

 

In May of 2020 we installed DuraEdge infield mix, which over half of the MLB teams use for their infield dirt.

 

In August of 2021 we poured concrete and installed an outdoor batting cage behind the third base dugout.

 

In March of 2022, we installed AstroTurf OPS+, it’s newest generation of turf on the entire field. We also added a berm and planted over 60 trees behind the LF fence. In August of 2022, we renovated our bathrooms at the field to give them modern look and amenities.

 

In January of 2023, we installed a new backstop cable system, doubling the height of our current backstop and increasing fan safety by stretching it down both foul lines over 100’ further than the previous backstop.

 

Future projects include pouring concrete around the bleacher concourse & installing a new press box.

 

Dave Regan Clubhouse & “The Barn”

We are one of 4 KJCCC schools that have its own baseball controlled indoor facility. This is not a gym or multi-purpose facility. It is specifically for baseball use and operated by the baseball program. From 2010-2014 we installed new turf, netting, and lighting. The new netting system came in December of 2012 and it encloses the facility, allowing for live batting practice and bullpens to occur. We are able to throw bullpens, hit and field ground balls during the winter season or during rain (365 days of baseball).

In 2021, we tripled the lighting, installed a new sheet metal ceiling and replaced the ceiling net.

Attached to our indoor facility is the Dave Regan Clubhouse with a 60 man locker-room with an entertainment center, Wi-Fi, 4-55” flat screen TVs, sound system, ping pong table, bathroom, and team laundry room.

2015 saw the addition of 38 new Cherry-Oak professional grade lockers installed.

 

Weight Room

Our weight room is located on campus (brand new in 2023) which we use from the first day of class until the last day of class. (We can explain our weights/conditioning program in further detail on campus visits)