The start of the 2018 Pioneer Baseball season is just around the corner and the Pioneers are preparing. The Pioneers begin with a four-game series against Western Nebraska Community College in Scottsbluff, NE on February 17-18. MCC hopes to improve on last year’s season, as it was a bit of a disappointment. The team went 16-36 last year and missed post-season play.
Veteran head coach, Jeff Brabant, has worked in the off-season to make improvements and he is hopeful and optimistic that they will pay off. “I expect that our team culture and chemistry will allow us to compete at a high level. If we can stay healthy and catch the baseball, we will compete for a spot to go to regionals,” coach Jeff Brabant commented about the upcoming season.
The Pioneers will return 14 players from last season, so there will be experience out there on the field in most positions. Short-stop and second base will be the only positions that will be lacking the experience of returning players. Amongst the returners is NJCAA all conference nominee, center fielder Ty Jones. Jones was second in the conference in home runs last year with 14. Also returning is assistant coach Mike O’Connell. O’Connell is a Kalispell, MT native and an MCC alumnus.
Coach Jeff Brabant is ready for the first pitch, “I am really enjoying this group of guys. We have so much turnover at the JUCO level. The teams that we coach inherently change every single year, and every single year we deal with the differences. This year’s group has great character and work ethic. I feel they will earn what they get this spring. I have always felt that baseball is full of karma, and I believe that they have earned the ability to feel good about how they are going into this spring. They have some confidence even though we haven’t played yet. This confidence is because of how hard they have worked for the past 3 months. They are ready and it is time to play…9 more days!”
