The Blinn College baseball team is equipped with experience and pitching heading into the 2021 season.

"It is a unique situation, and we are now older and more mature than we ever have been," head coach Harvey McIntyre said. "We have four guys back who are third-year players and they are really going to help our team from a leadership standpoint. In addition, the pitching is definitely going to be the strength of our club."

The third-year players returning for the Buccaneers are right-handed pitcher Jace Hutchins (College Station), middle infielder Westley Schields (Cypress), and catchers Preston Hoffart (Magnolia) and Nick Wolff (Houston).

Starting pitcher Hutchins is the eighth-ranked junior college prospect in the nation and signed with The University of Texas at Austin. As a freshman, he posted 27 strikeouts in 18 1/3 innings. Schields, Hoffart, and Wolff were named Texas-New Mexico Junior College Baseball Coaches Association all-stars as freshmen in 2019. Shields finished the 2020 season with a .292 batting average after 72 at-bats. Hoffart held a .215 batting average and .271 on base percentage after 65 at-bats, and is now committed to UT-Austin. Wolff finished the 2019 season with the team's third highest batting average (.333) and scored two runs in 11 at-bats last year.

Before the 2020 season was cut short due to COVID-19, the Buccaneers held a 14-9 record and had one of the best pitching staffs in the conference. Blinn led its conference and was fourth in the nation in ERA (2.28) and shutouts (6), second in the conference in strikeouts (166), and second in the conference in batting average against (.222). Nine pitchers return from last year's pitching staff.

Potential starters for the Buccaneers are left-handed pitchers Dylan Theut (Fulshear), Trevor Mott (Waxahachie), and Evan Aschenbeck (Brenham), and right-handed pitchers Caden Homniok (Brazoria), and Kirkland Michaux (Austin).

"The pitching staff right now is probably the best I've had since I have been here," said McIntyre, who is entering his 14th season as the Blinn head coach. "I think we can suffocate a lot of lineups using one guy after another."

Theut posted 0.49 earned run average in 18 1/3 innings last season. Mott led Blinn with 32 strikeouts in 24 2/3 innings last year, Aschenbeck was named team MVP at Brenham High School, Homniok posted a .274 batting average in 62 at-bats last year, and Michaux played baseball and won a state championship as the Austin Westlake High School quarterback.

Candidates for relief pitching roles include left-handed pitchers Colton Geisler (Columbus) and Colten Drake (Kerrville),and right-handed pitchers Grayson Smith (Georgetown), Tanner Sherrill (Cypress), Blane Romero (Houston), Mason Muras (La Grange), Patrick Hail (Arlington), Jake Olson (Brenham), and Hudson Forrest (Austin).

Geisler transferred from Texas A&M University, where he posted a 0.00 earned run average in 10 innings in the last two seasons. Drake earned all-state honors at Kerrville Tivy High School, Smith posted a 2-1 record and had four saves last season, and Sherrill transferred from Angelina College, where he posted a 0.00 earned run average in 4 2/3 innings last year. Romero posted three strikeouts in 2 2/3 innings last year, Muras posted a 2-0 record in four appearances last year, Hail posted 12 strikeouts in seven innings last season, Olson earned all-state honors at Brenham High School,  and Forrest played baseball for Austin Westlake High School.

Right-handed pitchers Grant Wood (Georgetown) and Eric Oakes (Tomball) are candidates for the closer role.

Wood posted a 3.00 earned run average and 16 strikeouts in 15 innings last season, while posted a 2.25 earned run average and finished 33rd in the nation with two saves last year.

Joining Hoffart and Wolff as catchers are Dalton Stevenson (Spring), Tyler Burg (Katy), Bo Rodgers (Dallas), and Luke Banister (Hutto). 

"We are so fortunate to have two third-year players back in that position because they make our team so much better," McIntyre said. "Stevenson and the new additions are really good and definitely add some depth for us."

Stevenson posted a .286 batting average in 14 at-bats last year, Burg played baseball at Cinco Ranch High School, Rodgers earned all-city honors at J.J. Pearce High School, and Banister earned all-district honors as a catcher at Hutto High School.

Joining Shields in the infield are returners Kam Kelton (Round Rock), Jack Schell (Houston), Caleb Schulz (Spring) and Brandon Williams (College Station), and newcomers Callum Burton (Spring), Jett Garcia (Round Rock), Garrison Weiss (Brenham), Cash Callahan (Burton), Ethan Box (Katy), and Olson.

Kelton had a .227 batting average in 66 at-bats last year, Schell had a .302 batting average and tied for third on the team with 16 hits in 53 at-bats last year, Schulz earned all-district honors at Langham Creek High School, Williams finished the season with a .368 batting average in 19 at-bats last year, Burton played baseball for The John Cooper School, Garcia played baseball for Cedar Ridge High School, Weiss earned all-state honors at Brenham High School, Callahan earned all-state honors at Burton High School, and Box earned all-district honors at Cinco Ranch High School.

Returning to the outfield are Graden Emmons (Dallardsville), Ben Hovda (Robstown), Tyler Russell (Brazoria) and Aaron Kohring (Burton). New additions to the position include Conner Kestler (Port Lavaca), Cole Smajstrla (Pearland), Jonathan Lugo (Mission), Cullen Sherrill (Cypress), and AJ Mays (Austin).

Emmons tallied three hits in 22 at-bats last year, Hovda had a .279 batting average in 43 at-bats last season, Russell led Blinn with 11 RBIs in 63 at-bats, Kohring scored one run in 16 at-bats last year, Kestler earned all-district honors at Calhoun High School, Smajstrla earned all-district honors at Pearland High School, Lugo transferred from The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Cullen Sherrill transferred from Angelina College where he recorded one hit in 12 at-bats last year, and Mays earned all-district honors at East View High School.

"Our kids had to put a lot of their own time in and they didn't miss a beat because of their maturity and leadership," McIntyre said. "We have a group of really athletic guys who can do a lot of different things. We can score in a lot of ways and our pitching is top-notch."

The Buccaneers will travel to Beeville for the start of the 2021 season today. The Buccaneers take on Western Texas College at 3 p.m. and Ranger College at 6 p.m.

"We have all of the pieces of the puzzle to put a really good team on the field," McIntyre said.  "We want to put ourselves in a position and do enough things to win the regional tournament and get back to Grand Junction, Colo. Day by day we are going to do everything we can to get there."

Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 41 NJCAA national championships since 1987.