Sewardsaints.com
The Seward County Community College baseball team was picked to finish seventh in the KJCCC West in the 2026 Jayhawk West Preseason Coaches' Poll, released on Wednesday.
Seward was picked to finish seventh out of nine teams in the West Division, receiving 29 points. The Saints received one first-place vote. Cloud County was picked to win the league followed by Hutchinson and Barton rounding out the top three. Barton won the league in 2025.
2026 KJCCC D1 BASEBALL PRESEASON
1. Cloud County (3)
2. Hutchinson (3)
3. Barton (2)
T4. Butler
T4. Dodge City
6. Colby
7. Seward County (1)
8. Garden City
9. Pratt
Head coach Mike Davidson enters year eight leading the Saints. A season ago, Davidson led the Saints to a 26-31 overall finish, 13-19 in league play, good for a seventh-place finish. Seward's season ended in the opening round of the Region 6 Playoffs losing the first two games of a best-of-3 series at Cowley.
Seward's roster is comprised of 13 freshmen, four redshirt freshmen, 15 sophomores and four redshirt sophomores.
Sophomore infielder Ryan Todd is back after being a second-team All-KJCCC pick last season. Todd played in 50 games and slashed .377/.468/.541 with 60 hits and 18 doubles.
Sophomore catcher Hayden Ramage also returns for the Saints after being named honorable mention All-KJCCC last season, finishing with 48 hits hitting .322 with 49 RBI and a team-high nine home runs.
Outfielder Grant Cox, first baseman Blaine Chancy and outfielder Colton Rowan also return for their sophomore seasons, with all three playing in 50+ games last season. Cox and Chancy finished with 47 and 46 hits respectively with Chancy slashing .322/.457/.510.
Braden Whipple, Seward's leading pitcher by innings pitched (58.1), returns for his final season as a Saint. Whipple made 10 starts and had 15 appearances, holding a 5.86 ERA and striking out 49 last season. Sophomore Brooks Kappelmann figures to be one of the Saints top arms this season as well. A season ago, he made nine starts throwing 37.2 innings and held a 4.54 ERA but his season was limited due to injury.
Seward's season opens on Saturday, Jan. 31st in Lamar, Colo., as they travel to take on the Lamar Runnin' Lopes for a doubleheader at 2/3:30 p.m. CST. Seward's home opener is Saturday, Feb. 7th, when Kirkwood CC travels to Brent Gould Field for a 1/3 p.m. doubleheader before two more on Sunday at 1/3.
The top four teams in the final regular season standings of the west division will earn the right to host a best-of-three series against one of the teams from the east division who finish fifth through eighth in their division with the winners advancing to an eight-team double-elimination tournament that is scheduled for May 13-17. For the third time in the past four years, the eight-team double-elimination bracket portion of the tournament is scheduled to take place at Eck Stadium on the campus of Wichita State University following last year's tournament being held at Dean Evans Stadium in Salina. The winner of the 2026 NJCAA Plains District Baseball Tournament will advance to the 2025 JUCO World Series in Grand Junction, Colorado, May 23-29.
