NAIA National Tournament Preview: The Race for the Red Banner starts now!
- Info CBC
- 3 minutes ago
- 15 min read
By Andrew Riedell
As someone who has played NAIA baseball for the last six years, I truly believe that brand of baseball is a hidden gem. A lot of these kids who have played NAIA baseball are kids that have been given second chances after being cut from other programs or kids that were simply overlooked by other schools.
With that being said, on Wednesday the NAIA announced the 46 teams that would be competing for the national championship. These 46 teams are split into 10 regionals where six of them will be five-team regionals, meaning the one seed will get a bye and then the other four regionals are four-team regionals.
There are two ways to qualify for the tournament, the first being an automatic qualifier, and that usually means winning the regular season championship or your conference tournament championship, and in larger conferences, being a runner up in the tournament even qualifies you, there being 30 automatic qualifiers.
The second way to make the tournament is an at-large bid, and there are 16 of these. To qualify for an at-large bid, you usually have to have a strong Bo-Chip (NAIA RPI) and a strong ARC rating, which is also like an NAIA RPI. With that being said, let's jump into the regionals!
Hattiesburg Regional:
William Carey (Host/Automatic Qualifier)
Oklahoma Wesleyan (Automatic Qualifier)
British Columbia (Automatic Qualifier)
Indiana Southeast (At-Large)
William Carey comes in a very interesting way. I did not expect them to be a one seed after they lost in their conference championship and dropped conference series to Blue Mountain, Loyola, and Faulkner*. (Faulkner forfeited 38 games due to an ineligible player, and there is no word what the final RPI looked like for teams that played them.) Carey is coached by the winningest coach in Mississippi history, Bobby Halford, who just surpassed the legendary Ron Polk (https://mississippitoday.org/2025/05/08/bobby-halford-passes-the-master-as-states-all-time-leader-in-victories/.
This Carey team is a solid team, and they always turn it on when it comes to the postseason. They have experienced players such as SSAC Player of the Year Josh Alexander and four-year returner Rigoberto Hernandez, both of whom lead the way for the Crusaders offensively. Pitching has always been a strong suit for them as well, and Luke Lycette has probably been their best pitcher all year, leading the way with a 3.38 ERA and 71 strikeouts.
Oklahoma Wesleyan comes in as the two seed sitting at 46-9 and winners of the KCAC Regular Season. I thought they were more deserving of a one seed but here they land as the two seed in Hattiesburg. Coached by Kirk Kelley, the Eagles have strong series wins vs Ave Maria, Kansas Wesleyan, and Ottawa University.
The OKWU Eagles will be led offensively by All KCAC selection Jorge Aldrete whose hitting .422 and 15 HRs and then KCAC Player of the Year Ravaughn Morgan who hit .415 with 14 HRs and 69 RBIs. Pitching wise they are led by Evan Floor who won the KCAC Pitcher of the Year after he posted a 3.52 ERA and a 13-1 record this season. I really like the way this Oklahoma Wesleyan team swings it and they are set up nicely for a legit run for the Red Banner.
British Columbia, or as NAIABall likes to call them, Canada’s Team (Yes there is an NAIA team located in Canada), coached by Chris Pritchett, comes into Hattiesburg as the 3 seed, a nearly 3,000 mile trip for these guys. They come in runners--up in the Cascade Collegiate Conference with a record of 36-17 that includes quality wins against Lewis-Clark State College, Oregon Tech, and Ave Maria.
This squad is a really good hitting squad, averaging .317 as a team with 87 home runs, most of them coming from Jonny McGill and Trent Leniham. They are also led on the mound by CCC Co-Pitcher of the Year Will Anderson, who pitched to a 2.76 ERA this season; they also have solid bullpen arms in James Brock and Alex Lee.
Indiana Southeast is the first of the At-Large teams we will be talking about as they go into Hattiesburg with a record 30-16 and a strong Bo Chip of 18 which most likely secured their spot. Coached by Brett Neffendorf the Grenadiers are led by River States Player of the Year Logan Beard who hit .361 with 9 HRs and 58 RBIs, Nolan Bowser (.366 BA) and then they are led by Brendan Whalen (3.71 ERA 6-2 40 Ks) and RSC Freshman of the Year Luca Sandrella (4.85 ERA 6-2 44 Ks).
I am a believer in this IU Southeast team as this team made it to the NAIA World Series in Coach Neffendorf first year.
Kingsport Regional:
Tennessee Wesleyan (Host/Automatic Qualifier)
Cumberland (Tenn.) (Automatic Qualifier)
Columbia (Mo.) (At-Large)
Indiana Tech (Automatic Qualifier)
Louisiana Christian (Automatic Qualifier)
Tennessee Wesleyan is seeking revenge after losing in the National Championship to Hope International last season. Tennessee Wesleyan is a powerhouse when it comes to the NAIA level as under head coach Billy Berry he has taken them to Lewiston six times and has won the championship twice.
This year is no different for him and his squad as they come in loaded with talent especially coming from Appalachian Athletic Conference Player of the Year Daniel Stewart who slashed a .442 batting average and 18 home runs and 68 RBIs and Newcomer of the Year former Arkansas Razorback Kolton Reynolds who hit .407 with 21 HRs. This team also carries a ton of star pitching as well such as Blake Peyton, the former Arizona Wildcat who went 6-1 this season with a 3.03 ERA and Daniel Batcher who went 11-1 with a 4.52 ERA.
The Cumberland Phoenix are also a name that was once considered a power house as they are three time national champions but after a few down years they find themselves back up near the top of the Mid South conference winning the conference over rival Cumberlands (KY.) Led by Mid-South Coach of the Year Ryan Hunt son of former legendary coach Woody Hunt has led the way this year for them as this team is filled of production up and down this lineup led by Wilser Then who hit .358 with 12 HRs and 54 RBIs and Preston Welchel who slashed a .373 batting average with 11 doubles, 8 home runs, and 53 RBIs. Carter Rost led this pitching staff with a 7-0 record and a 2.35 ERA with 63 Ks. Justin Goldstein also dominated for the Phoenix on the mound with 83 Ks with a 3.12 ERA this season.
Columbia comes into Kingsport as the 3 seed here with a 41-9 record taking an at-large bid thanks to a 16 Bo Chip as well. The Cougars led by Darren Munns picked up quality wins over ranked opponents such as Missouri Baptist this season to solidify their way into the tournament. This team can flat out rake as they scored 500 runs this season over their 50 games averaging 10 runs a game. Led by Brayden McGinnis who is 2nd in the NAIA in batting average hitting an absurd .507 with 76 RBIS and 18 HRs and Tyler Renn as well hit some absurd numbers hitting .427 with 15 home runs and 53 RBIs. On the pitching side Owen Clark is their goto guy as he went 7-0 this season with a 2.01 ERA and 65 strikeouts.
Indiana Tech comes into the Opening Round winners of the Wolverine-Hoosier Conference tournament and with a record of 37-19 coached by Kip McWilliams he is no stranger to the postseason as he has taken the Warriors to 13 Opening Rounds. The Warriors come into the tournament with a solid offense led by Ben Morrison and Jordan Malott as they led their squad in batting average. Malott led the way with 59 RBIs this season while Morrison had 42 RBIs. Pitching for the Warriors is also very solid as they led by Grant Besser and Colton Leatherman as Besser is 5-1 with a 3.48 ERA and Leatherman in relief has a 1.86 ERA in 38.2 innings.
Louisiana Christian comes in as a dangerous five seed coached by Mike Byrnes who has been coach at LC since 2000 and has now led this program to back to back opening rounds appearances. This team has picked up quality wins vs Mid American Christian, Kansas Wesleyan, Tabor, and a series sweep vs Houston-Victoria who was ranked 10 at the time. This team is led by Brady Huffman, and Braden McLin offensively as both of them had batting averages over .340. LC does carry a very solid pitching rotation led by Jacob Bareswill who pitched to a 3.21 ERA and Coleman Haltom pitched to a 3.50 ERA as well.
Lakeland Regional:
Southeastern (Fla.) (Host/At-Large)
Central Methodist (Automatic Qualifier)
Arizona Christian (At-Large)
Abraham Baldwin (At-Large)
Briar Cliff (Automatic Qualifier)
Southeastern is the host here in Lakeland, Florida the first year after their former Adrian Dinkel suddenly stepped down. Southeastern lost a bunch of their arms and key pieces but new coach Gabe Grinder came in and kept Southeastern in the powerhouse tier of NAIA baseball he also won Sun Conference Coach of the Year. In his first year at the helm he led the Fire to a 41-13 record good enough to win the The Sun regular season title but ultimately fell in the tournament to Webber.
This Southeastern team is loaded with talent but I was very impressed with Freshman of the Year JP Pennella who slashed a .441 average with 47 RBIs then you have veterans Charlie Collins and Connor Hicks who can mash the ball as well in a very tough pitching conference. Talking about pitching, Southeastern's team was led by Aaron Robertson who pitched to a 1.85 ERA and was 9-2 this season in 78 innings. This team looks to pick up where Dinkel’s postseason success has left off.
Central Methodist is the number two seed after winning the Heart of America Conference Tournament. They enter 35-13 under Coach Nate Breland who is also no stranger to the NAIA postseason. They come into the postseason with key wins over USAO, and Mid America Christian to boost their resume to get a two seed. They are led by Carlos Negron. If you follow NAIA baseball you know this guy is a STUD. This year he has hit 15 home runs and 62 RBIs with a .362 batting average.
This year he’s had newcomer Darius Freeman come in and help with his production as he hit a solid .358 with 7 HRs and 35 RBIs and 21 stolen bases. On the mound they are led by Radford transfer Foster Seitz who was 11-3 with a 3.27 ERA with 63 Ks. Tanner Sears is their two way star as he slashed .392 with 10 HRs and 54 RBIs and has also gone 4-1 with two saves on the mound this year.
Arizona Christian will be sent to Florida as an At-Large bid with their record being 37-12 and a Bo Chip of 37. This one does not shock me as they do have quality wins over Taylor, and Ave Maria and they do have a good strength of schedule. Under Coach Joe McDonald he has taken them to their first NAIA World Series ever.
This team is a solid team as offensively they are led by Andrew Ivy, Kane Kiaunis, and Trey Tarver. Ivy hit .391 with 5 HRs and 35 RBIs while Kiaunis did it both ways as he hit .330 with 13 HRs and 74 RBIs and on the mound he went 3-3 with 47 Ks. Tarver also did it both ways as he hit .391 with 15 HRs and 70 RBIs he also went 4-2 on the mound with 79 strikeouts. The other key pitchers I have not mentioned yet were Eatyn Culp who went 9-1 with a 3.27 ERA with 97 Ks and Jackson Hohensee who was mostly their closer as he had 10 saves this season for the Fire Storm.
Abraham Baldwin is a really cool story as last year they were a junior college and in their first full season in the SSAC they competed very well and managed to finish third in the regular season. Under Coach Blake Williams the team went 35-14 and clinched an at-large bid with key wins against teams like Johnson, William Carey, Loyola, and a 24-23 win over Mobile in their conference championship. I got to see this team play a couple times and them being a four seed feels very criminal. I feel like they can make a nice run in this regional and maybe shock some people.
This team was led offensively by Quinten Rawls who hit .396 with 5 HRs and 49 RBIs but this whole lineup is a tough out from what I watched this season. Brayden Fordham, Cristofer Walley, and Chasin Cash (What a name!) were also key contributors to the Stallions offensive success. Pitching they are very under the radar as Trypp Lumpkin, Reign Jordan, and Kade Haywood are a very solid staff with key bullpen arms like Owen Lamb and Nicholas Milbrant.
The five seed here is Briar Cliff who enters the tournament winning the GPAC championship as this will be The Chargers first appearance in the National Tournament since the 2015 season. This is the first under Coach Corby McGlauflin as they enter the tournament with a record of 28-22. Cade Marquardt leads this team at catcher as he slashed a .347 BA with 41 RBIs and has also thrown out 31 base runners this year behind the plate. Nico Sall is another bat that is really impressive in this lineup as he hit .369 this season with 16 doubles and 14 home runs. Nick Hays is the front line starter in this rotation as he went 7-2 this season with a 3.82 ERA with 50 Ks.
Lawrenceville Regional:
Georgia Gwinnett (Host/Automatic Qualifier)
Keiser (At-Large)
Houston-Victoria (At-Large)
Talladega (Automatic Qualifier)
Saint Xavier (Automatic Qualifier)
The number one seed in the Lawrenceville Regional is Georgia Gwinnett who is one of the premier baseball programs at any level of college baseball. Led by Jeremy Sheetinger who is on the USA Baseball task force as well as he took over for Brad Stromdahl in 2020 he has led this team to Lewiston in all four years he has been there. This team is LOADED with talent and they play in a conference where they only play eight conference games so they load up on facing top NAIA teams as they’ve picked up wins at William Carey, at Tennessee Wesleyan, and vs Reinhardt.
Pitching is led by Ben Harris, a six year senior who has dominated most of his time there this year he is 10-0 with a 2.32 ERA with 84 Ks. Their pitching staff is loaded though I have just gotten to watch Ben Harris since his freshman year though. Hitting wise they are led by Alex Harrell who has fit into Sheetinger offensive scheme perfectly as he has slashed a .473 BA with 64 RBIs 22 2Bs 4 3Bs and 31 stolen bases.
Keiser from The Sun Conference comes into this regional with an At-Large bid as they have been in the Top 25 most of the season and had a strong Bo Chip of 31 this season and made a deep run in their conference tournament where they fell to Webber in the championship. They are coached by Brook Fordyce who has taken the Seahawks to Lewiston before in 2021 brings his team in with a 35-15 record with key wins vs Webber, and other Sun conference teams.
hey are led by Sun Conference Player of the Year Simon Grinberg who led this Keiser team in home runs, batting average, walks, hits, RBIs, and total bases. Edbarry Guzman is also slashing .375 batting average with 3 home runs and 49 RBIs. On the pitching side of things for the Seahawks Kyle Keyes and Bastyan Hernandez led them in starts but Tanner Goswick is also a key arm you can watch in relief with a 2.63 ERA.
The Houston-Victoria Jaguars will be in the National Tournament for the fifth time in school history as they also earned an At-Large bid for the first time in school history. Coached by Jonathan Stavinoha in his second year he has already made this Jaguar team into a Top 25 threat! This Jaguar team also beat two D1 teams in Texas A&M Corpus Christi twice and Prairie View A&M this season.
This Jaguars team is led by Hal Perez and Terry Burrel offensively as Perez hit seven home runs with 46 RBIs and Burrel hit .358 with 29 stolen bases this year. The Jaguars pitching staff was legit this season as they have the third lowest ERA in the NAIA with a 3.50 ERA led by Southeastern transfer Johnathan Jones he had a 3,52 ERA in 84 innings with his fourth nationally best strikeouts with 104.
The Talladega Tornadoes will make their second consecutive trip to the NAIA Opening Round as they qualify after winning the HBCU Conference title. Led by head coach Marcos Dominguez they are 42-12 and are a solid hitting team. Do not let the teams they play have you second guessing. They have key wins vs Freed Hardeman, Mobile, and Middle Georgia to help lead them to a four seed here in Georgia.
This team is led by the NAIA Batting Average leader Miguel Oropeza who is hitting .530 with 15 home runs and 76 RBIs. He is one of the toughest hitters in college baseball in general. On the pitching side of things for the Tornadoes they are led by Emilio Duque who has pitched to a 2.66 ERA in 74 innings and has gone 10-2 this season.
Saint Xavier earned their trip to Georgia via an automatic bid after they went undefeated and won the Chicagoland Conference Tournament. This is the third time they have made it to the Lawrenceville Bracket. Coached by Addison Rouse they have gone 31-22 this season and won through their conference tournament.
This team is led by Aaron Orzech and Gabe Kirck with the bats as they have combined to hit 24 home runs and 99 RBIs this season. Sean Moore is also hitting .356 this season with 54 stolen bases which is second best in the country. (Coincidentally the person in front of him in the SB race is Gwinnett’s Jon Ponder with 61 stolen bases.) Pitching for the Cougars is led by Jimmy Fairley and his 2.02 ERA and 10-1 record this season.
Lewiston Regional:
Hope International (Auto Qualifier)
Wayland Baptist (Auto Qualifier)
Lewis-Clark State (Host)
Oregon Tech (At-Large)
Dickinson State (Auto Qualifier)
Hope International are the reigning champs and will start their back-to-back quest where they ended their season last year, in Lewiston. Head Coach Larry Mahoney has led this quest to go back to back for the Royals as this year he has led them to go 43-8 this season as he also won GSAC coach of the year.
This team is loaded with talent as well led by David Shackelford, and Marshall Bartee offensively for the Royals as in Shackelford first year he was named the GSAC Player of the Year after hitting .437 with 7 home runs and 41 RBIs. Bartee led the Royals in home runs with 13 with his .361 BA and 37 RBIs. Pitching for the Royals Trey Seeley dominated as he went 10-0 with a 1.29 ERA with 91 strikeouts and Josh Landry who had a 1.54 ERA with a 9-0 record with 78 strikeouts.
Wayland Baptist earns the two seed in the regional after going 39-17 and winning the Sooner Athletic Regular Season title. This is the team’s first trip to a regional since 2016 and third overall in school history. This team is led by Todd Weldon who has turned this program back into what it was when he was last pitching coach here in 2013-2018. This team is led by Felix Polanco who won the Sooner Athletic Baseball Player of the Year award after he had a .434 batting average with 16 home runs and 73 RBIs this season.
Delvis Claudio and Samuel Fabian also contributed to the team's offensive success as they lugged a combined 41 home runs and 134 RBIs. This team has hit 83 home runs this season which is 16th best in the NAIA. Pitching for them has been solid as well thanks to Juan Gil-Franco who has been a stellar reliever who went 11-4 with a 4.07 ERA.
Lewis-Clark State gets an automatic berth to the opening round every year. Some agree with it and some disagree with it. They always field good teams out there so I personally do not care because they usually deserve a chance to fight for a championship. They also won the Cascade Championship this season so people should not complain.
Led by Coach Jake Taylor he has gotten this team to a 35-14 record this season with key wins over Tennessee Wesleyan, British Columbia, Oregon Tech. This squad is always loaded with Northwest talent and that is headlined by Charlie Updegrave and Jadon Williamson. Updegrave just became the all time leader in home runs in the Cascade Conference as he has hit 21 home runs this season with his 71 RBIs to go with that too. Ike George as well has been a solid contributor to this Warriors team as he has hit .376 with 20 stolen bases this season.
Jadon Williamson won the Co-Pitcher of the Year in the Cascade as he pitched his way to a 2.47 ERA in 58 innings this season. Jake Green, Jackson Cloud are other bullpen arms to watch for this postseason.
The four seeded Oregon Tech Owls enter their first ever trip to the NAIA Opening Round and honestly. Good for them. I am rooting for them to succeed as this season they went 38-14 with key wins over Lewis-Clark State, and British Columbia to help their resume. Their Bo Chip was also 43 which might have shocked some fans of teams that got left out but I think the committee got it right.
The Owls are coached by Interim Head Coach Ricky Walker which makes this an even better story! This Owls team is led by Tyler Horner who won the Cascade Player of the Year with his .427 BA, 20 doubles, 13 home runs, and 63 RBIs. Patrick Barry is also a key contributor to this team as he just broke the Oregon Tech record in runs scored in a season and posted a .412 batting average with 40 RBIs. Tim Williams shares the Co-Pitcher of the Year award with Jadon Williamson of LC State. Williams went 7-0 with a 3.14 ERA and struck out 60 batters in 71 innings.
The Dickinson State Blue Hawks came into the Lewiston Regional with an automatic qualifier as they were runner ups in the NSAA Tournament. Coached by Michael Dahl he helped his team to a 21-29 record. Do not overlook their record and think that they will not upset a team in this postseason. Anything can happen in the postseason.
Led by Luis Rodriguez who hit .354 with 7 home runs and 30 RBIs and John-Michael Gonzalez Jr. who hit .348 with 5 HRs and 33 RBIs this season. Jacob Scully leads this pitching staff as he has thrown 85 innings that led to a 7-5 record and a 4.52 ERA and struck out 85 as well. Trent Richter also struck out 30 in 44 innings in and out of the bullpen this season.
This is only 24 of the 46 teams! The other 22 teams will be released most likely Friday they will also have my Opening Round Predictions on who will make it to Lewiston to fight for the top spot!
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