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2023 POSITION OUTLOOK
INFIELD
The Patriots welcome back three starters from last year’s infield including a pair of All-Conference performers in Luke Heefner and Miguel Santos. While the Patriots will look to replace the loss of first baseman Cole Moore, who signed with the Philadelphia Phillies after leading the team in eight offensive categories, DBU’s infield should be a strength of the team in 2023.
Heefner returns for his sophomore season after being named a Freshman All-American and the Missouri Valley Conference Freshman of the Year as the Patriots’ starting third baseman. In his rookie season, Heefner hit .294 and his seven home runs were the most by a freshman since Jimmy Glowenke hit 10 in 2018. Heefner is also a threat on the base paths. Last year, his 12 stolen bases were second-most on the team.
On the other side of the diamond, second baseman Miguel Santos figures to be one of the top offensive threats in the DBU lineup. In his first season as a Patriot last year, Santos was one of three players to start all 59 games and posted a .274 average with 10 home runs, 11 doubles, and 40 RBI while leading the league in triples (6).
Behind the dish, DBU returns Nate Rombach. The junior catcher tied for the team lead in home runs (12) and compiled the second-highest slugging percentage (.542) in his first year as a Patriot after transferring from Texas Tech.
George Specht, a veteran utility player, also returns for his third season at DBU. In 2022, Specht set career-highs in home runs (7), doubles (10), and RBI (27).
DBU also adds seven newcomers to the roster that will see time in the Patriot infield including six transfers. The lone freshman is catcher Grant Jay who was the Class 5A Hitter of the Year during his prep career at Mobile Christian School in Semmes, Alabama, and was tabbed the 17th-best catcher in the nation by Perfect Game.
Among the six transfers are three from the Division I ranks in Kodie Kolden, Ethan Mann, and Keaton Grady. Kolden was a four-year starter at Washington State and was a finalist for the Brooks Wallace Award in 2021, given to the nation’s top shortstop. Last year, Kolden hit .259 with 21 RBI for the
Cougars. Mann comes to DBU from New Mexico State. Prior to redshirting last season, Mann was one of the top threats in the Aggies’ lineup in 2021, leading the team in five categories including home runs (11), RBI (50), slugging percentage (.538), stolen bases (8), and total bases (106). Grady is the younger brother of DBU’s Jace Grady and arrives from Incarnate Word where he made 12 starts as a true freshman last year.
The Patriots also add four infielders from
the junior college ranks including Noah
Boughton, Alex Pendergast, Tom Poole,
and Blake Wilhoite. Boughton spent
the previous two seasons at nearby
Weatherford College where he hit .316
last year and was named to the Texas-
New Mexico All-Star Game. Pendergast
compiled a .323 average in 2022 at Kirkwood Community College and was a First Team All-American as a freshman two years ago after hitting .421 with 16 home runs and 88 RBI. Poole is a transfer from Cloud County Community College where he set the school’s single- season home run record with 23 round-trippers last season while also hitting a team-best .366. Wilhoite is a sophomore catcher from Frank Phillips College. In his freshman season, Wilhoite compiled a .327 batting average.
OUTFIELD
DBU’s outfield returns a wealth of experience in 2023, headlined by Second Team All-MVC performer, Jace Grady, and MVC All-Defensive Team selection, Nathan Humphreys. Along with Grady and Humphreys, the Patriots bring back George Specht and Jaxon Holder, who each saw time in the outfield last year. Additionally, DBU added five newcomers that could also play a role in the outfield.
Grady followed up Freshman All-American honors in 2021 by hitting .310 with a career-high 10 home runs, 12 doubles, and 37 RBI while leading the MVC in stolen bases (25). In three seasons at DBU, Grady has made 117 starts and is a career .310 hitter with 40 stolen bases, six shy of breaking the program’s Division I record.
Humphreys flashed signs last year as a freshman that he is among the elite defensive centerfielders in the country. With his ability to cover a lot of ground and the athleticism to make highlight-reel catches, Humphreys has the knack to make run-saving plays in the outfield. As a left-handed bat in the Patriot lineup, Humphreys is another threat on the base paths, having stolen 9-of-11 bases in 2022.
Utility player, George Specht, also saw significant time in the outfield last year, making 35 starts. A switch hitter, Specht’s numbers jumped in 2022 as he clubbed a career-high seven home runs with 10 doubles.
Jaxon Holder enters his second season and could see an added role after hitting .273 in nine games as a true freshman last season. Holder began his career with promise, hitting safely in his first six games.
Among the five newcomers added to the Patriot roster that could see time in the outfield are three transfers including Ethan Mann, Tom Poole, and Ian Riley. Both Mann and Poole are utility players that could also factor into the mix on the infield.
Prior to Mann redshirting at New
Mexico State last year he hit .305
with 11 home runs and 50 RBI. Poole
also put-up stellar numbers as a
freshman in 2022 at Cloud Country
Community College. The Calgary
native recorded a .366 average
at the plate and his 23 home runs
were the seventh-most in the nation at the NJCAA Division I level. Riley was teammates at Cloud County with Poole and hit .345 while leading the team in hits (67), stolen bases (24), and walks (45) and broke the school’s single-season record for runs (82).
Joey Nerat is the one true freshman outfielder on the Patriot roster and comes to DBU from Campbellsport, Wisconsin, where he was a First Team All-State selection as a senior. Perfect Game rated him the No. 5 outfielder and the No. 19 overall prospect from the state.
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