Any baseball player’s dream is to make it to the Majors. One of those steps is to sign with a university. This is exactly what three Bellevue College baseball players have recently done. Shortstop Sheldon Stober, short stop/catcher Ryan Malone, and left handed either Nick Kiel are the three BC players that have commited to a school on a Division I scholarship. The three players are all unique situations that all signed with different colleges.
Sophomore Sheldon Stober is a short stop for the Bulldogs. Sheldon has a strong freshman year posting a batting average of almost .400 and also earning First Team All-North Region honors. He has signed his letter of intent with Seattle University. Sophomore Ryan Malone is a short stop and a catcher for Bellevue College. Malone has signed his letter of intent with 50-game winner Campbell University in North Carolina. Lastly.Sophomore Nick Kiel is a left handed pitcher who has signed with the University of Missouri. All of these players have signed with 4-year universities and will head off after next season.
Coach Mark Yoshino has been with all these players since their time at Bellevue College and is ecstatic He has known their talent for over a year now, and is not surprised that these players were signed. There were a couple big reasons why these particular players signed early, “Their performance/season last year, and a specific need for that type of player,” said Yoshino. However, coach Yoshino knows the potential that his team has, “The team has 15 or so other players who are similar in role model presense and ability. The only reason they didn’t sign early was because 4-year schools weren’t looking for players in their positions during the early signing period.” The team has plenty of talent for universities to pick from.
The Bellevue College baseball program has been known for breeding major league prospects for years now. One of the best players to come out of BC is Texas Ranger pitcher Evan Meek who has made an apperance in the MLB All-star game. Other han him, there are two other pitchers in AAA and many others in Major League organizations. Yoshino has faith in the players that have signed early that they can prosper at highr levels of baseball, “The three players that signed four year scholarships early have the talent to play at the next level, so it is a matter of how much they develop when they are at their unversities, as well as a little luck.”
The Bellevue College baseball team has a strong core of talented Sophomores to lead them to an NWAACC title. Right now, they are ranked 2nd in the NWAACC and 7th on the west coast. “We have about 20 second year players that are all looking forward to an exciting, memorable year,” said Yoshino. Led by the early signees, the BC baseball team is looking forward to a new baseball season and a prospective NWAACC title.