Kellogg Community College’s baseball team opened the Spring 2023 season strong this week with a win over Ivy Tech Community College in a nine-inning contest Tuesday in Ohio.
The Bruins bested the Titans 9-2 in advance of their annual spring trip to Louisiana, where the team will open the season in earnest against some of the highest-ranked teams in the nation. That trip runs Feb. 16-23.
The Bruins return for a full schedule in March before their first home games against rival Kalamazoo Valley Community College March 21 at C.O. Brown Stadium in Battle Creek. The team plays more than a dozen home doubleheaders in C.O. Brown – all with free admission – before postseason play begins mid-May.
This year’s team includes a roster nearly 30 players strong, roughly half of which are returning sophomores. Locals on the team include returning catcher Cooper Middleton (Marshall/Marshall High School), freshman pitcher/outfielder Kooper Etheridge (Battle Creek/Lakeview High School) and freshman pitcher Cameron Reichel (Battle Creek/Pennfield High School).
Head KCC Baseball Coach Eric Laskovy is entering his 24th year with the program and 17th as head coach.
Last spring, the Bruins had continued success on the field, winning the team’s fifth consecutive conference title and finishing second in regionals. Nine players won postseason athletic awards, while Coach Laskovy was named MCCAA Western Conference Coach of the Year for the fifth consecutive year and shared MCCAA Co-Coach of the Year honors with the coach at Lansing Community College, his 11th MCCAA Coach of the Year/Western Conference Coach of the Year honor since 2007.
Additionally, nearly two dozen KCC baseball players earned postseason academic awards for exemplary achievement in the classroom. The team as a whole earned MCCAA and NJCAA All-Academic Team honors with a 3.19 team GPA.
The team was ranked 12th in the nation in the latest 2023 National Junior College Athletic Association Division II Baseball Preseason Rankings, which were released in early January.
For more information about KCC’s baseball team, including a full schedule, roster, season preview and other information, visit kelloggbruins.com. Head KCC Baseball Coach Eric Laskovy can be reached at laskovye@kellogg.edu or 269-965-3931 ext. 2536.
For more news about Kellogg Community College, view our latest press releases online at https://daily.kellogg.edu/category/news-releases.