Baseball | 2/1/2025 10:47:00 PM

Cloud County vs McCook Community College Game Info
Game Day: Sunday, February 2, 2025
Game Time: 2 PM
Live Stream: T-Bird Sports Network
Location: Concordia, Kansas
Stadium: Lee Doyen Field

The Cloud County Community College baseball team will open its 2025 season against the McCook Community College Indians at Lee Doyen Field in Concordia, Kansas on Sunday, February 2.

Cloud County went 40-21 overall last year, including 22-10 in conference play, reaching the 2024 NJCAA Region 6 Plains District Tournament. The T-Birds enter the 2025 season with high-expectations, tabbed as one of the preseason favorites to win the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference - West Division race, according to the preseason poll conducted by the conference's head coaches last month. The T-Birds garnered 71 points in the poll with two first-place votes. Barton Community College also received 71 points in the poll with three first-place votes. Neither team was picked to finish lower than fourth by any of the league coaches.

The T-Birds return three players who received Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference All-KJCCC West Division recognition a year ago. Sophomore Nolan Freund, who earned Second-Team All-KJCCC honors at first base in 2024, will move over to third base this season. Freund finished his freshman campaign holding the third-highest batting average on the team at .337 with 63 hits in 145 at-bats. Freund led the team in doubles with 16 and tallied 24 extra-base hits and 45 RBI to go with 20 walks and nine hit-by-pitches to finish with a .416 on-base percentage. Defensively, Freund helped turn 22 double plays and had a .971 fielding percentage, ranking third among everyday starting fielding positions for Cloud County.

A catcher from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, Cam MaCleod was an honorable mention All-KJCCC West Division selection in 2024. MaCleod hit .311 with a .561 slugging percentage last season. MaCleod collected 46 hits, including seven home runs and 14 doubles, as well as 39 RBI and 35 runs scored. Defensively, MacLeod threw out 15 of 46 runners attempting to steal and had a .991 fielding percentage with four errors in 445 total chances. MaCleod, who was also named an NJCAA All-Academic First Team selection after ending his freshman year with a 4.0 GPA, has already signed with the Washington State Cougars, a new member to the Mountain West Conference following the dissolution of the Pac-12.

A Second Team All-Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference selection in 2024, right-handed pitcher Zach Sharshel of Topeka, Kansas is expected to play a huge role for the T-Birds in 2025. An early signee to the Southern Illinois Salukis of the Missouri Valley Conference, Sharshel appeared in 13 games out of the bullpen and made two starts for Cloud County as a freshman in 2024, throwing a total of 27.1 innings. Sharshel finished the year with a 4-2 overall record and one earned save, striking out 35 batters and allowing only three extra-base hits.

Cloud County returns nine pitchers from last year and three regular starters, including right-handed pitcher Jack MacIntosh, a sophomore from Penticton, British Columbia, Canada. MacIntosh started 10 games on the mound for the T-Birds in 2024. MacIntosh finished last year with a 7-3 overall record and a 5.26 ERA. MacIntosh was second on the team in strikeouts with 74 in 65 innings of work. He signed during the early fall signing period with the Flames of the University of Illinois at Chicago, a member of the Missouri Valley Conference. 

Sophomores Austin Coyle and Noah Konings will highlight a talented outfield for Cloud County. Coyle, a sophomore from Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada, appeared in 45 games for the T-Birds last year where he hit .312 with a .532 slugging percentage. Coyle recorded 34 hits with eight doubles and four home runs to go along with 27 RBI. Coyle has signed with the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Trojans, a member of the Ohio Valley Conference.

Konings, a native of Brampton, Ontario, Canada, will start in right field for Cloud County. Konings appeared in 56 games in 2024, hitting .339 at the plate with 59 hits including 15 doubles, with 38 runs scored and 26 RBI.

Head coach Eric Gilliland and his staff added more veteran experience in the offseason, welcoming transfers Tony Crow, an infielder from William Jewell University, Matthew Evans, an outfielder from the University of Nebraska, Colton Strange, a catcher from the University of Central Oklahoma, and pitchers Collier Hestermann from Washburn University and Ben Soke from North Dakota State University.

Here's a look at the T-Birds' roster for opening day:
Catchers: Cam MaCleod, Vasya Seymour, Colton Strange

Infielders: Kaden Budke, Eric Bradicich, Luke Clayton, Tony Crow, Nolan Freund, Lucas Laukkanen, Joey Marino, Easton Mould, David Simmons

Outfielders: Carter Cathers, Austin Coyle, Matthew Evans, Noah Konings, Tanner Jacobsen, Zach Miller

Utility: Matthew Genrich, Gannon White

Pitchers: Evan Bogart, Noah Bourgeois, Aaron Boutz, Sam Brummond, Myles Chamberlain, Tyler Gagnon, Collier Hestermann, Creighton Jacobitz, Cole Linton, Jack MacIntosh, Andrew MacNeil, Hayden Malaise, Caden Marcum, Cohen Nelson, Kai Rempel, Zach Sharshel, Ben Soke, Cooper Tannahill, Stocton Timbrook