Baseball | 5/6/2026 9:30:00 AM

The Cloud County Community College baseball team (47-5, 28-4 KJCCC) will open the 2026 NJCAA Division I Plains District Tournament as the No. 2 seed and will host No. 15-seed Highland Community College (12-40, 8-24 KJCCC) in a first-round best-of-three series, beginning Thursday, May 7 at 2 pm at Lee Doyen Field in Concordia, Kansas.

Cloud County enters the postseason ranked No. 2 in the final regular season NJCAA Division I Baseball Rankings Presented by Netting Professionals. The No. 2 ranking marks Cloud County's highest national ranking in program history.

The T-Birds used a four-game series sweep against Seward County Community College in its final Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference (KJCCC) series of the season to secure its first-ever KJCCC West Division championship in program history. Under 10th-year head coach Eric Gilliland, Cloud County has not dropped consecutive games all season. The T-Birds rank in the top three across all 18 KJCCC baseball teams in runs, home runs, RBI, extra-base hits, total bases, walks, batting average, on-base percentage, and earned run average.

Thursday marks the first meeting between Cloud County and Highland this season. The T-Birds swept a four-game non-conference road series against the Scotties in 2025. Cloud County has won five straight meetings and seven of their last ten matchups with Highland.

Highland enters the postseason having won three of their last five games. The Scotties went 7-5 in their last 12 contests, winning three of four conference games against Labette before splitting their four-game KJCCC series with Neosho County and Allen Community College. Highland is making its first postseason appearance since 2021.

Cloud County sophomore catcher Vasya Seymour has made the most of his opportunities this season, posting a team-best .417 batting average and a .548 on-base percentage. Seymour has 40 hits, including six doubles, one triple and eight home runs. Seymour adds 44 runs scored and 34 RBI.

Redshirt freshman Simon Baker provides power and speed, batting .411 with a .555 on-base percentage and a .945 slugging-percentage. Baker is second on the team in hits with 67, including 11 doubles, a team-leading 11 triples and 18 home runs. Baker leads the team with 68 runs scored while driving in 63 runs. He ranks second on the team with 14 stolen bases.

Freshman Nolan Green is hitting .407 on the season, including .414 in KJCCC play. Green, who has started 24 games, has 33 hits with three doubles, two triples and five home runs to go along with 20 walks, 27 runs scored and 29 RBI.

Freshman Kellan Burke, the current KJCCC West Division Player of the Week, is hitting .401 on the season with a team-leading 77 hits and 83 RBI. Burke is tied with Baker with 18 home runs, while adding a team-high 15 doubles and three triples. In four games last week, Burke hit .444 against the Seward County Saints with eight hits, including four home runs, eight runs scored, and 10 RBI. Burke went 4-for-4 and crushed three home runs in Cloud County's 10-0 run-rule victory over the Saints on May 2, a game that clinched the team's eighth KJCCC series victory of the season.

A power hitter, sophomore Luke Clayton is hitting .393 with 46 hits, including 23 extra-base hits. Clayton is second behind Baker with an .812 slugging-percentage. He has 13 home runs, 42 runs scored and 47 RBI.

Sophomore Lucas Laukkanen combines contact and discipline at a high level, hitting .377 with 61 hits, 62 runs scored and 61 RBI. Laukkanen has 13 doubles, two triples and 15 home runs.

Sophomore Kaden Budke has been the tone-setter at the top of the lineup, hitting .348 with a .469 on-base percentage. Budke has 62 hits, with 13 doubles, one triple and 15 home runs, along with 64 runs scored and 49 RBI.

Sophomore Joey Marino helps anchor the defense while contributing offennsively with a .343 average. Marino has 59 hits with 15 doubles, one triple, nine home runs, 46 runs scored and 38 RBI.

In conference games this season, Cloud County batted .369 at the plate while outscoring opponents 394-160.

Cloud County's four-man starting rotation is a combined 28-0 this season.

Sophomore Cohen Nelson, the current KJCCC West Division Pitcher of the Week, is posting a 1.14 ERA with 59 strikeouts over 31.2 innings pitched. Nelson has three double-digit strikeout games in KJCCC play and eight strikeouts or more in each of his last five starts.

Freshman Ian Razak leads the team in wins with an 8-0 record. Razak has a 3.19 ERA with 45 strikeouts in 59.1 innings of work.

Sophomore Cole Linton, last year's KJCCC West Division Pitcher of the Year, is also 8-0 on the mound this season. Linton has logged a team-high 66.2 innings, with 66 strikeouts against 14 walks allowed.

Sophomore Stocton Timbrook is 7-0 with five complete games this season. Timbrook is tied with Linton with 66 strikeouts while carrying a 4.26 ERA.

Sophomores Evan Bogart, Sam Brummund and Kai Rempel, and freshmen Gage Gannon and Jackson Fox have been frequent bullpen options. The Cloud County pitching staff has put together a 4.65 ERA with 438 strikeouts in 381.1 innings pitched.

Defensively, fielding has also been a strong point for the T-Birds, posting a .964 fielding-percentage across 1,618 total chances while allowing just 19 stolen bases.

Highland enters the postseason batting .257 as a team. The Scotties are led by freshman infielder Carson Davilla, who is hitting .333 with 47 hits, including eight doubles and 14 home runs. Sophomore infielder Nolan Wall is batting .299 with 44 hits, including nine doubles, one triple and 10 home runs, to go with a team-leading 39 runs scored and 31 RBI.

The Highland pitching staff is posting a 13.18 ERA. Sophomore left-hander Owen McCurren has made 10 starts with a 3-7 record to pace the Scotties. McCurren has an 8.19 ERA with 50 strikeouts in 62.2 innings of work.

Game one of the best-of-three series is set for Thursday, May 7 at 2 pm. The second game will be played Friday, May 8 at 1 pm. If necessary, game three would take place at 1 pm on Saturday, May 9.

Winners of the eight opening round series will advance to a double-elimination tournament at Eck Stadium on the campus of Wichita State University, scheduled for May 13-17. The winner of the 2026 NJCAA Division I Plains District Baseball Tournament will advance to the 2026 JUCO World Series in Grand Junction, Colorado May 23-29.