Kirkwood Baseball

Eagles draw No. 3 seed for World Series

ENID, Okla. - The Kirkwood Eagles have drawn the No. 3 seed for the NJCAA Division II World Series and will face Madison (Wis.) in the opening round Saturday at 1 p.m. at the David Allen Memorial Ballpark.

LSU Eunice (54-6) drew the No. 1 seed for the 10-team tournament, which will run from May 26 through June 2. Parkland (48-14-1) is the No. 2 seed, followed by Kirkwood (42-15-1), Northern Oklahoma (46-14) and Sinclair (44-9) in the top-5. Madison is the No. 6 seed, followed by Scottsdale, Brunswick, Monroe and CCBC Essex.

LSU Eunice and Parkland, the top seeds, drew a bye in the opening round.

Kirkwood is making its first trip to the World Series since 1999. The Eagles made four trips to the World Series in the 1990's and finished second on two occasions.

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Eagles headed to JUCO World Series

Todd Rima rolled the dice a little bit when he left a strong program at NIACC six years ago to become the new head coach at Kirkwood.

It paid off handsomely on Sunday.

The Eagles spanked Southeast Community College of Nebraska, 10-1, to win the North Plains district baseball title and earn the school's first trip to the NJCAA Division II World Series since 1999.

Kirkwood (42-15-1) will be one of only 10 teams at the national tournament in Enid, Okla., from May 26 to June 2.

Rima spent 11 years at NIACC, a junior college in Mason City that competes in the same conference with Kirkwood. He thought Kirkwood had more resources than NIACC to compete at a national level on a regular basis and moved his young family to Cedar Rapids to embrace the job.

Kirkwood made four trips to the World Series in the 1990's under Coach John Lewis and finished second on two of those trips, but the program had slipped a little when Rima arrived.

Now the Eagles are back, joining the Kirkwood basketball teams, softball team, men's golf squad and volleyball team as national powers.

"This athletic department deserves the baseball program to go back to the World Series," Rima said after getting a bucket of ice water dumped on his head and hugging his family. "This community deserves it.

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Eagles in showdown for World Series

The Kirkwood Eagles made four trips to the junior college World Series in the 1990's, but it's been 19 long years since they made their last appearance in the national tournament.

Now it's do-or-die time for the Eagles.

Kirkwood split the first two games of the North Plains district tournament with Southeast Community College on Saturday and now they'll play the decisive third game on Sunday.

The showdown in the best-of-3 series is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. at the Kirkwood field.

The Eagles cruised in the first game, 10-1, behind a strong outing by Peyton Long, but Southeast took the nightcap, 14-9, when Kirkwood pitchers walked 12 batters and hit two others.

Now it's 12th-ranked Kirkwood (41-15) against unranked Southeast of Lincoln, Neb. (42-14) for a trip to the NJCAA Division II national tournament in Enid, Okla., May 26-June 2.

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8 Eagles make all-region baseball team

Eight members of the Kirkwood baseball team have been named to the All-Region squad for 2018.

Third baseman Izaya Fullard and center fielder Taylor Jackson were named first team all-region. Pitcher Cameron Leff and shortstop Korry Howell were selected for the second team.

Pitchers Peyton Long and Adam Ketelsen received honorable mention, along with second baseman Chili Moseley and left fielder Ellison Hanna.

Fullard is hitting .448 with six homers and 68 RBIs. Jackson is hitting .372 with nine homers and 53 RBIs.

Leff has a 7-2 record and 2.78 ERA. Howell is hitting .393 with two homers, 42 RBIs and 39 stolen bases.

Long has a 3-2 record and 2.39 ERA. Ketelsen is 8-1 with a 2.45 ERA. Moseley is hitting .363 with one homer and 30 RBIs. Hanna is hitting .331 with nine homers and 53 RBIs.

Kirkwood (40-14-1) will be hosting Southeast Community College of Nebraska (41-13) in the district tournament this Saturday at noon. The district champion advances to the NJCAA Division II national tournament.