Bruin Baseball 2023 Season Preview
Coming off the semester break, the Bruin Baseball team was eager to get back to work. They began in-season practices earlier this month and are on the hunt for another MCCAA Western Conference Title and are gunning for the Region XII Championship that brings them another shot at the NJCAA World Series.
"We return a couple of impact arms and a solid core group of position players off last year's nationally ranked (5th) team. We have added some key transfers that are expected to be major contributors along with a solid freshman class," said Head Coach Eric Laskovy. Laskovy enters his 24th year with the program, and 17th at the helm.
Leading the returning group is sophomore right-handed pitcher, Sean Knorr. Knorr notched All-MCCAA, First Team All-Western Conference, and Western Conference All Freshman team last season, and is already committed to Central Michigan University.
Kane Elmy, another sophomore pitcher for the Bruins, has committed to Murray State University and looked solid all fall. Coach is expecting him to make an impact this spring.
The Bruins return several key field players on the 2023 roster: Brett Stanley was an impact player on the infield as a freshman, Noah Warren brought his game to the outfield last season, and Donovan Thompson was big for the Bruins offensively last spring.
The final key returner for the Bruins is Sam Bassett-Kennedy, a 6'6" left hand pitcher committed to Michigan State University. Look for big things from Sam this spring.
Among a strong freshman class, Coach Laskovy also brought in some transfer players that are expected to contribute heavily to the success of the team. Aidan Arbogast is leading the way with that group, as he notched First Team All-American, All-Region XII, All-MCCAA, MCCAA Western Conference Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year last season. Other transfers are Jacob Spencer, a big arm from Indiana Tech, and Caleb Williams a transfer looking to make an impact on the mound.
"Once again, we open the season with as challenging a schedule as anyone in the country. It features 7-time DII National Champion #3 LSU Eunice (LA) and perennial powerhouse's DI #8 Wabash Valley CC (IL) and DII #10 Murray State CC (OK)," said Laskovy. The KCC Baseball team was ranked #12 in this year's NJCAA DII Pre-Season Rankings and are looking to climb as season begins. Bruins head south mid-February to play their Spring Schedule.