Culture change has Northwest Missouri State baseball team having its best season since 2005

(MARYVILLE, MO) - Before second-year head coach Tony Jandron arrived, the Northwest Missouri State baseball team hadn't seen a winning season since 2018. Now, a 27-25 win record last season, and this year the Bearcats currently sit with 34 wins and just 13 defeats, tied for third place in the MIAA conference.

The 34 wins in a season are the most for Northwest since 2005, over 20 years.

"I think having a good group of guys that are willing to work at something, they're coachable. I've been in this game for 13 years at the college level and I've been fortunate to experience some of that change and bringing those experiences with me," said Jandron. "I'm a firm believer of the things that we're doing and I think that instills the confidence and the work ethic. When they reap some of the benefits and they're seeing the wins. They're just having a lot of fun doing it too."

"It's easy to buy into, when Coach J comes in here and he brings that kind of vibe into practice in the program every day, it's easy to be a part of," said senior Jeremiah Cabuyaban. "So all a testament to him and then the wonderful teammates I have too. That makes it easy."

A lot of the roster is filled with local athletes from around the area, and even seven players on the team also play for the Saint Joseph Mustangs. Speaking of seven, there's seven players on this roster who currently have a batting average over .300, led by Bishop LeBlond alum Frank Gall at .370 and Liberty High alum Jeremiah Cabuyaban at .354. Of the 64 home runs hit this season by the Bearcats, a combined 25 have come from these two seniors.

"Just belief in the next guy, I trust all the guys in my lineup and having a good team around me makes me perform better for sure," said Gall. "One of my friends, Parker Griffith, our catcher, he always says, who are you going to pitch to? So we just have a lineup like that our mentality is like, I'm just gonna get the next guy up and he'll get the job done. So it's a good problem to have."

"Just try not to get too big, being really picky about what kind of pitches I'm putting my swing on, staying patient and sticking to the process," said Kabuyaban. "Not trying to ride the highs and lows too much, just showing up and being the same guy every day."

As the Bearcats look to wrap up the regular season this week with one final home stand before the conference tournament, Jandron likes the frame of mind his team has at this point, filled with players that want to be here, show up to practice focused, and bring the intensity.

"Just embracing every moment together, every team's its own identity, and this one...it's a nice competitive group. These guys like to get after it," said Jandron. They're gritty, and we just want to finish the way we started and just sticking to development one percent every day trying to get a little bit better. If it's good enough, it's good enough. If it's not, it's not. We're confident in who we can be and we just got to make sure we're showcasing that."

Northwest Missouri State's final 3-game home series will be against Central Oklahoma beginning on Thursday, April 30th at 3 pm. The MIAA Tournament begins next week from Wednesday, May 6th to Saturday, May 9th in Edmond, Oklahoma.