NORTHEAST BASEBALL READIES FOR 2025 SEASON BEGINNING IN OKLAHOMA FRIDAY

NORFOLK, Neb. – Another spring is around the corner and the Northeast Community College baseball team is gearing up to take on Northern Oklahoma College-Enid at 10:30 a.m. Friday at David Allen Memorial Ballpark in Enid, Oklahoma for their first showdown of the season. The 2025 DII Baseball World Series will take place on the same field and the Hawks are looking to start and end the season at the place this year.

Marcus Clapp has prepared his team all offseason as the head coach of Northeast and has plenty that he is looking forward to this upcoming weekend.

"I'm excited about the chance to go and play," Clapp said. "It's hard to think that the season is here already. Opening weekend is always an exciting time every year. You're excited to see what you have as a group. The guys have a chance to go and compete. We were fortunate to be able to get outside in intersquad last week, but besides that we haven't done anything outside and live since October. It's a good chance to go out and get the season kicked off."

Clapp knows that there's plenty of learning to do with a 56-game schedule that goes until May, and he wants to make sure his team is playing their best ball at the right time when it counts the most.

"It has to be a process," Clapp said. "You're hoping that the team isn't at the end of the year what they are now. You have to keep progressing. You can't peak too early. The bottom line is you have to play good ball at the end of the year. In this conference, it's a grind and a battle every week. You have to stay the course. You have to ride the ups and the downs and you have to stay as even-keeled as possible. Your goal is to make the conference tournament at the end of the year and once you do that, anything can happen."

Northeast finds themselves receiving votes in the 2025 NJCAA DII Baseball Preseason Poll and will be competing against three other teams from the ICCAC who are also ranked in the preseason poll. What does Clapp want to see from his group by the time conference play rolls around in March?

"Consistency," Clapp said. "I want to see us make sure that we are playing Northeast Baseball. I want to make sure that we are doing the routine things the right way. Throwing strikes and hunting fastballs. If we can play good, clean baseball then we are going to be in every game. I say all the time that if we play well and get beat, so be it, but we can't make mistakes, hurt ourselves and give games away. That's what February is for. Cleaning all of that up. Last year was an example of that. In February, we were not very good on the mound and then all the sudden we turn around and lead the conference in ERA and fewest walks. That is exactly what I'm talking about. You use these first few weeks to get your feet wet and work the kinks out and hopefully by conference play you are doing some things the right way."

There were 14 sophomores from last year's squad who went on to continue their academic and athletic careers at four-year institutions and although Clapp knows that production won't be easy to replace, Clapp feels confident about the group of sophomores he has returning to Northeast for the 2025 season.

"Carter Noakes (Dannebrog, Neb.), Jack Borgmann (Norfolk, Neb.), Kale Jensen (Central City, Neb.) and Ian Shaw (Ogallala, Neb.) are a couple of key guys returning that are going to help us out," Clapp said. "Braden Cork (Omaha, Neb.) on the mound with Greysen Strauss (Lexington, Neb.) are two others. We have a lot of new freshmen that are going to be in the mix early. We have a talented group. We just need to go and play and get in a routine."

Jensen hit for a .362 batting average in 2024 with six home runs, 18 doubles and two triples and he was named ICCAC Honorable Mention All-Region after his first year in a Hawks uniform. He'll be joined by a group of 15 freshmen who Clapp is excited to see hit the field. 

"Preston Hastreiter (Columbus, Neb.), Cole Kuszak (Broomfield, Colo.) and Caden Rezac (Ogallala, Neb.) on the mound will be good for us," Clapp said. "Edgar Hernandez (Glenwood Springs, Colo.) is another one in the infield. It's a good mix of guys. The talent is here. You have to be able to play and go when it counts."

Clapp and his team do have a few benchmarks that they'd like to reach this year.

"We have our team goals that we make for us as a team and I'm sure most teams have the same type of goals," Clapp said. "We want to make sure that we are doing things offensively the right way and that we are aggressive. Our first goal is to continue to get better every week and then obviously your big goal is to make the conference tournament. From there you hope you catch some breaks, play well and then anything can happen."

Clapp's program has recorded 39 wins in a season twice throughout his tenure and he is proud to put a consistent winner on the field.

"One of our team goals is 35 wins in a season," Clapp said. "It's tough to win 35 games in a year. You have to have a good year to have 35. We've done that. It's hard for teams to do that. To do that seven of eight years shows the type of student-athletes that we are bringing in. It shows where our program is at."

Ultimately, there's one item that Clapp is looking towards to consider the campaign an accomplished one.

"Play well at the end," Clapp said. "Obviously, only one team can say they are where they want to be at the end of the year. Last year felt like we had a really good year and we lost five in-a-row to end the year and that just puts a bitter taste in your mouth. It makes you feel like you didn't have a successful season even though we had 34 wins. We need to be playing well and giving ourselves a shot at the end. That's all we can ask for."

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