Madison College advances to NJCAA World Series

MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) - For the fifth straight year, Madison College baseball has punched their ticket to the NJCAA Division II World Series.

The WolfPack defeated McHenry County College 14-8 to advance to the National Junior College Athletic Association World Series for the 11th time in 14 years.

Head WolfPack Baseball Coach Mike Davenport was also named the Region 4 Coach of the Year.

“It has been fun,” Davenport said. “Having a whole new group was obviously frustrating at times with the freshman mistakes and immaturity, but also great to see the growth of second year guys as well from last year to this year and fall with the freshman as well.”

Sun Prairie native Carson Shepard and Carter Stebane each had a home run in the seventh inning to secure the victory for Madison College. Stebane had 5 RBI, while Shepard had three hits in his six at bats.

“I don’t feel the pressure to go and win it because I know we belong there,” Shepard said. “As long as we play our game and stick to what we do and don’t get out of it, I feel like we have a really good chance of going through and completing it.”

“We’re definitely just focused on the first game,” Stebane said. “You gotta win it game by game to keep playing, so you can’t focus on the championship if you lose before the championship.”

Chris Byhre got the win for the WolfPack, he recorded 2 strikeouts and gave up one run in three innings.

Up next the team will head to Enid, Oklahoma for the NJCAA Division II World Series starting Saturday, May 27.

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