All posts by Christian Smith

2021-2022 NEW TEAMS!

The NCBA is excited to announce that Campbell University & South Dakota School of Mines have officially joined the NCBA for the upcoming 2021-2022 season.  Both teams will be competing in the Division II league in their inaugural seasons. Welcome Camels and Hardrockers!

The Camels and the Hardrockers are the first two teams to join the NCBA for the 2021-22 season but won’t be the last!

21/22 DII LPA

CLICK HERE for the 2022 League Participation Agreement, which covers the upcoming 2021-2022 NCBA season. This membership form is due back prior to July 1st. Please make note we were able to lower dues by $225 this year as we removed the offering of 2 BBCOR bats. While we intend to revisit offering those for the ‘22/’23 season, it was important to us to keep dues as low as we can for clubs this ‘21/’22 season given everything going on the last 14 months.

NCBA CONSOLIDATES TO ONE LEAGUE FOR THE SPRING ’21 SEASON

Due to the amount of teams across all divisions officially unable to compete this spring due to school/municipal COVID-19 mandates, necessary consolidation was needed.  With that, the NCBA will not be hosting Divisional League play this this spring, but rather a combined NCBA season.  Please note that all Division I, II, and III teams that ARE eligible to compete this spring will be invited to play in a conferences that may be a mix of any combination of DI, DII and DIII teams.  Please be sure to follow all this season’s action through the main NCBA Website.

If there are any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to me at

[email protected]

Christian Smith
VP of Baseball Operations
National Club Baseball Association

 

 

FEATURED TEAM OF THE WEEK

 

THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY

NCBA Division 1 | Mid-Atlantic Region | West Conference

NCBA Division 2 | New Penn Region | West Conference

Columbus, OH

Mascot: Brutus Buckeye

 

“2021 will provide many challenges to our program as I’m sure it will to others due to COVID.  We are currently looking for a new home field since ours is a parking lot and our indoor space has been repurposed for workout equipment.  However, our program is hopeful for a return to practice in February with an eye on playing some sort of season this Spring.  34 players are expected to return between the two teams providing a solid group of veterans to lead us through a unique situation.  If given the chance, this group will be ready to lead us to another successful season on and off the field.”

 

Interesting/Fun Facts

  • Founded in 1996
  • 1 of the original 34 NCBA teams in 2001
  • Most wins for DI/DII program since 2013 with 309.
  • 5 consecutive conference titles for both teams since 2016

 

Team Social Media:

Twitter: @OSUClubBaseball (DI) or @OSUCbaseballD2 (DII)

Instagram: @BaseballClubAtOhioState

 

NCBA TRIVIA CONTEST WINNER

The first ever NCBA Trivia Contest has come to a close!  Logan Stacho, formerly of Cleveland State Club Baseball, was the first person to answer all 10 trivia questions, unscramble the letters, and spell out “Panama City.”  Logan will be receiving an NCBA Swag Bag filled with Marucci grip tape, water bottle, lanyard, Rawlings sunglasses, key chain, baseballs, and swag from NCBA events.  Feel free to check out the contents of the prize below!

If you missed the contest, you can review the posts on any of our social media accounts below, as well as by looking at the full review HERE!

Twitter: @The_NCBA

Facebook Page: TheNCBA

Facebook Group: NCBABaseball


NCBA TRIVIA CONTEST

The NCBA is putting on the first ever NCBA Trivia Contest.  Over the course of the next couple weeks, the NCBA will be posting 10 trivia questions that relate to NCBA history.  Each answer has a letter associated with it, contestants must use the letters from the correct answer to unscramble a location associated with the NCBA after the 10th question.  The first to submit the correct answer to the NCBA will win an Marucci Swag Bag filled with NCBA memorabilia.

Feel free to follow along and participate on Facebook and Twitter!

FEATURED TEAM OF THE WEEK

HIGH POINT UNIVERSITY

NCBA Division 2 | Dixie Region | North Conference

High Point, NC

Mascot: Prowler the Panther

 

“We have been doing a lot over here at HPU, within the coronavirus restraints and limitations, in order to prepare ourselves for the upcoming season whenever that may be. Our pitching staff has been working hard with bullpens and live scrimmages in order to keep in game form during this offseason. We are also very excited about this freshman class and the additional threats that it brings to our team on the mound, at the plate, and in the field. Having the experience of 5 Junior, 5 senior and 2 fifth year athletes really helps us with chemistry as well as incorporating the new freshman class into the program. The energy has been buzzing at our inter-squads every Saturday and we are all very excited about the season and the chance to get back to Georgia with the new squad.”

Interesting/Fun Facts

  • We have 2 brothers on the team this season, Jake and Daniel Savino
  • Will Hoffman, Bailey Ingalla, and Frank Santelia are all seniors this year and have been with the team all 4 years
  • Davis Shoener and Logan Simmons are back to complete a Masters degree and play for a 5th year

Team Social Media:

Twitter: @HPUClubBaseball

Facebook: @HPUClubBaseball

 

FEATURED TEAM OF THE WEEK

STANFORD UNIVERSITY

NCBA Division 2 | Pacific Region | North Conference

Stanford, CA

Mascot: Cardinal

 

“The resurgence of Stanford Club Baseball was, like star right fielder Will Ogden, fast. In just its second Division 2 season, Stanford finished one win away from reaching nationals. Last season, before the pandemic intervened, Stanford was coasting through the NCBA Pacific north conference with a 7-0 record. That is why Stanford football, coming off a 4-8 2019 season, took a page out of club baseball’s book. Before the 2018-2019 season, the club baseball team moved to playing its games at Woodside High School. Trying to replicate the same success, David Shaw and the football team did the same, practicing at Woodside at the beginning of their fall camp.

As a freshman, local pitching prospect Cameron Vaughan identified Woodside High as a home for the team. Soon after, the club baseball team could be found on the weekends taking care of the field, and it paid off.

“The key move was that we had a home field,” Vaughan said. “And not only did we have a home field, we had a home field where we were comfortable.” It was at that home that Stanford dropped the first two games of its opening series to Sacramento State in 2019. Despite the high expectations coming into the year, it could have been another disappointing season. Instead, sophomore player-manager Gregory Block gave a speech and turned the season around.

“Seeing that early season lethargic performance was frustrating,” Block said. “I felt like if I really tried to fire people up early in the season it would send a message and establish what we were trying to do over the course of the year.”

“I don’t remember the words of the speech, but I remember the way that it made me care about winning,” Vaughan said. “Greg brought so much energy.”

Block and Ogden stepped in as presidents in their sophomore year when Karl Fencl and Austin Poore graduated. Soon after recruiting the freshman class, Block and Ogden could sense a new kind of energy from the group. During offseason workouts, it was apparent that Vaughan, former Little League World Series hero Danny Marzo, and the rest of the freshman class was ready to make a difference. Emboldened by the talent, Block would send weekly emails with inspiration from the team’s past. He first shared the epic story of pitcher Drew Tam laying down a bunt for a hit with a full count and the bases loaded to tie the game. Later, he would talk of “Big Cat” throwing past the point of exhaustion to rest the team’s bullpen. All of that culminated in Block’s epic speech to save the season.

“I remember walking away thinking not only do we need to win Sunday, but we’re going to win out,” Vaughan said. “And we ended up doing that just that.” Stanford won its final nine conference games to clinch a berth to Lancaster. Just a season before, playoffs were less than an afterthought — they were never mentioned — but Stanford found itself in the regionals in the first year of Block and Ogden leading the program.

Nevertheless, it did not come without its close calls. One morning, after heavy rain, Block and Vaughan woke up at 5:30 a.m. to put Turface on the field. The field, while not ideal, was playable, and Stanford won the two games necessary to secure the conference championship and the No. 1 seed.

“It’s a funny story to look back on, but we were out there for four hours in the morning and

basically redid the entire field,” Block said. “To me that was kind of a sign that we were all

serious about this.”

An absurd 26-15 game ended Stanford’s season in 2019 on the doorstep to Kansas. After

pitching guided the Cardinal all year, four games in three days ran through the stable of arms and the hot, dry weather won out. “Pitching wins championships,” Vaughan said. “And most schools in the Division 2 club ball circuit don’t have the depth that perhaps a Tampa Bay Rays or a Dodgers organization might have to pull from.”

In addition to Vaughan, Stanford has leaned heavily on ace Ben Caven. Caven has been named the NCBA Player of the Week in each of his two seasons, throwing a 6-inning complete game, allowing just one run on one hit with seven strikeouts his freshman season and winning the award last season with a performance in which he struck out 13 over 6 shutout innings. “There were teams that knew of Ben before we even knew when we were going to play them,” Vaughan said.

In 2020, with senior leaders Alex Rejto and Chris Adosei-Poku guiding the team, Stanford did not lose a single game. Only a natural disaster could have stopped Stanford — and it did. “Knowing how close we came,” Ogden said, “just one game away from nationals the year before, and then coming back and adding even more talent like Wes [Rojas], like Karsten [Householder], and especially solid play from the freshmen… I thought that not only would we be going to nationals we actually had a shot at it.”

Looking ahead to the 2021 season, Stanford’s biggest strength might be its competitive spirit. Rojas, the shortstop, has been known to sleep in his uniform the night before a game.  “The first thing that shows through is just people’s energy and enthusiasm,” Block said. “There’s just excitement to be back on a baseball field again, because we never know when sports can be taken away from us.”

In 2021, the talented, competitive, and hungry Stanford club baseball team will return to action at Woodside High, but for now are just counting the days. “The field of dreams,” Ogden said. “Every time I drive past Woodside, it almost brings a tear to my eye.”

Team Social Media:

Facebook: @StanfordClubBaseball 

Twitter: @SU_ClubBaseball 

 

FEATURED TEAM OF THE WEEK

 

UNIVERSITY OF OREGON

NCBA D1 | Northern Pacific Region | West Conference

Mascot:  Ducks

Location:  Eugene, Oregon

 

Write-up: The 2021 Oregon Ducks are hungry to buy their plane tickets back to North Carolina. After winning it all in 2015, things haven’t gone their way in terms of bringing the trophy back to Eugene. But this year is different. This year’s team is full of great young talent that is ready to take over the Northern Pacific – West Division for years to come. With a great recruiting class last year and another great one this year, the Ducks are unrecognizable compared to as early as 2 years ago.

Look for a lineup that possesses a balance in both contact and power, as well as a pitching staff that contains high velocity and deception. The Ducks are going to be an exciting team to watch this year.

 

Interesting/Fun facts:  Two players are ambidextrous

 

 

Social Media:

Twitter: @UOClubBaseball

Instagram: @uofoclubbaseball

Facebook: University of Oregon Club Baseball