September 8, 2011
“We are young but we have potential.” That’s the feeling of the baseball coaching staff at North Central Missouri College in Trenton for their 2011-12 team. There are only four sophomores on the baseball roster (three returners and one transfer student) and the rest are freshmen.
Donnie Hillerman is the Head Pirates baseball coach, and he is joined this fall by new assistant coach Jason Hayes. Hayes played for NCMC in the 2006 and 2007 seasons, when he was recognized as an Academic All-American. After Hayes graduated from NCMC, he transferred to Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa and played for two more years. He recently graduated from Simpson with a bachelor’s degree in accounting and marketing and was employed by NCMC as Residence Life Coordinator/Assistant Baseball Coach last month.
The four sophomores on the baseball team this fall are John Costello (pitcher) from Eureka; Neil Jaquez (outfielder) from the Dominican Republic; Xavier Lewis (infielder) from Columbia; and Austin Warren (pitcher) from Lone Jack. New recruits for infield positions include Trey Barger (El Dorado Springs); Matt Burnaugh (Raytown); Anthony Caldarella (North Kansas City); Anthony Dutcher (Grain Valley); Tyler Hudlow (Harrisburg); Christian Knighton (Lathrop); Nick Lovell (Russellville); Tyler Marion (Neosho); Joel Matthews (Fulton); Zach McGill (Richmond); Ruben Paniagua (Blue Springs); A.J. Van Houtan (Chillicothe); and Jeremy Wagner (Tonganoxie, Kansas). New outfielders are Simon Beeson (Columbia); Lucas Doerhoff (Wardsville); Isaac Johnston (Branson); Derrick Leeper (Hamilton); and Jacob Patterson (Neosho). New members of the pitching staff are Silas Bohannan (Neosho); Alex Cross (Nevada, Iowa); Cory Goll (Cameron); Garet Halbert (Linn); Joey Love (Jefferson City); Derek Mann (Webb City); Luke Scrivens (Lathrop); Andrew Stagner (Savannah); and Taylor Sturdefant (Springfield).
Practice is underway with the fall home opener set for 11 a.m. Sunday, September 18. Additional home games in September are Tuesday, September 20 at 4 p.m. and Saturday, September 25 at 1 p.m. There are four home games scheduled for October. They will all be played at Burleigh Grimes Field, located in Eastside Park in Trenton.