By MATT PIKE
For the first time since 2003, the Northwest Missouri State Bearcat baseball team is competing in the NCAA Tournament, starting in the Central Regional this afternoon.
Northwest has seen quite the run of success under second year head coach Tony Jandron. Through his two seasons, Jandron has led the Bearcats to a 63=41 recod thus far, making it to the MIAA championship last season, and now to the NCAA Central Regional for the first time in over two decades.
Jandron says with a essentially brand new team, with 24 new faces, it's been a good year, his team focusing on being very process oriented
"They don't look to far ahead on what's next, they're very present mindset on what they can do a little bit better today to be a better baseball player and a better teammate, and they've capatalized on it and they've had a really nice year," Jandron says on the KFEQmunnity show. "It wasn't perfect, but going through those experiences together they're able to learn and grow, and it's been fun to watch."
In all, the Bearcats dropped just four conference series during the regular season, finishing 35-15 going into the MIAA tournament as the No. 4 seed. Northwest showed incredible fight during the tournament, but fell in the semifinals to Pittsburg State.
Jandron though, saw his teams resiliency during the tournament, in particuar during their win over Central Missouri, an 8-7 walkoff win in 11 innings.
"There's no quit in these guys, they've shown that all year, they're a good late inning team, there's just no quit," Jandron explains. "They're going to keep belief until the game is over, until the final out is recorded there's no quit, it doesn't matter the score, I know the Pitt State did not end up how we wanted it to, but even there, there's just belief, we thought we were going to come back in that game.
Northwest fell to the Gorillas 21-11 in seven innings in the MIAA tournament semifinals. Even so, the Bearcats did enough to rank No. 4 in the Central Regeion rankings, earning a spot in the NCAA tournament.
Jandron says to see Northwest's name called for the first time since 2003, he was most of all happy for his team.
"Maybe not the ideal years they wanted early in their career here, and then just to get these seniors an opportunity to continue playing together, I think you could see that emotion right away," Jandron says. "They're a family, they created it, and to extend our life, I'm excited to go on the ride with them."
Full Interview
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