Kirkwood Baseball Embarks On 2021 Campaign Saturday
Kirkwood baseball will kick off the'21 campaign under Todd Rima who enters his 9th season as head coach on Saturday, February 27. The Eagles travel to Miami, OK for a four-game weekend at NEO A&M College. The four-game series is the first of 12 non-conference dates for the Eagles during the 2021 season.
Kirkwood will play 22 conference doubleheaders this season. That stretch begins on March 17 with a twin-bill at Southeastern, in West Burlington. The season concludes with the Region 11 Tournament from May 12-16. (site to be announced) with that winner moving on to the North Plains District Tournament, meeting up with the winner from Region 13. The winner then receiving a bid to the NJCAA Div. II World Series in Enid, Okla. From May 29-June 5.
Kirkwood comes off a 7-5 campaign that was shortened due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Offensively the Eagles welcome back Joel Vaske, Josh Fitzgerald, Kyle Moeder, and Lorenz Elion who together accounted for 11 home runs, 44 RBI's, and 38 runs in the shortened season. On the mound Luke Llewellyn returns after throwing 16 innings, striking out 27, and posting a 2.25 ERA. Rian Yates comes off a 2020 season in which he went 1-0 and posted a 3.46 ERA with 11 strikeouts in 13 innings, along with Clayton Nettleton who recorded a save and a team-leading 0.00 ERA.
The Eagles go into the season receiving votes for the NJCAA Dll baseball rankings.
