Recently, the William Jewell baseball team was ranked number 29 on the national level in the NCAA’s top 30 Division II baseball teams in the nation. This is the first time since joining Division II NCAA that a Jewell team has broken the ranks and joined the nation’s elite.
“It is an honor to be the first Jewell team to crack the national ranking. It really is cool to see the hard work come together and for that hard work to be recognized,” said Bryan Porting, senior infielder.
After beating Quincy University and putting Jewell two games ahead in the Western Division of the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC), the team lost three out of four games against the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Despite this setback, Jewell went on to win two vital games in the Western Conference against Rockhurst University.
“As a team versus UMSL we had a disappointing weekend and lost some close games, but we did a very good job of bouncing back against Rockhurst and won two huge games,” Porting said.
Jewell currently remains at the top of the GLVC’s Western Conference with a record of 12 wins and eight losses in the conference, maintaining the advantage over Quincy University. With a record of 29 wins and 11 losses overall, the team is confident heading into the GLVC conference tournament.
Porting hopes that the current success of the team can continue through the games left in the season.
“We as a team have a lot of work left to do, but as a team we are working to achieve the goal of winning the conference. As of right now nothing is guaranteed for where we will finish in relation to the postseason, but if we continue to take it one game at a time we will be in a position that we want to be in,” said Porting.
Porting added that the biggest factor that contributed to the team’s success has been its game-to-game outlook.
“This year as a team we have done a great job taking everything one day at a time. We have controlled what we can on a day-to-day basis. Our ability to do this is where I feel our success has come from,” he said.
When considering the rest of the season for Jewell Baseball, every game has its own level of importance as the team moves forward.
“When dealing with the question about ‘must win’ games, every game is important from here on out. Our conference as a whole is talented from top to bottom, and because of this no team can be overlooked and every game is important. I think up to this point we have done a great job of this, and if we can continue that process, we will give ourselves a chance to be where we want to be in the end,” said Porting.
After beating Rockhurst, the team has had six wins and two losses, helping the team move towards achieving their ultimate goal of winning the conference title.
The Jewell Baseball team is set to play Saturday, April 25 at 12 p.m. and 3 p.m. at Missouri S&T in Rolla, Mo.