The University of Cincinnati Clermont College baseball team has taken first place in the 2024 United States Collegiate Athletic Association Small College World Series.
The Cougars defeated four-time national champion Penn State Dubois to claim the program's second title and first since 2013.
As one of UC's regional campuses, UC Clermont, located in Batavia, Ohio, has its own baseball team almost completely made up of players from Greater Cincinnati. This season, the Cougars clinched the No. 2 seed in the Small College World Series in DuBois, Pennsylvania, a double-elimination tournament that ran from May 13-17.
UC Clermont worked its way into the national title game with three comeback victories, taking down Florida National, Miami Hamilton and top-seeded Penn State Dubois along the way. After defeating Dubois in their first matchup, the Lions fought their way back to face the Cougars in game one of the national championship. That game saw Dubois defeat UC Clermont 7-4 and force a final, decisive sudden-death match.
Even on short rest, the Cougars were ready and handily claimed a 4-0 victory. Offensively, UC Clermont was led in the game by Bubba Allen (Colerain High School), who went 2-for-3 with an RBI, while Bryce Rayner (Western Brown High School) and Jackson Roseburrough (Beechwood High School) both went 1-for-3 with an RBI.
The standout was Logan Wilson (Dixie Heights High School) who went 1-for-4 from the plate with an RBI, and threw a complete game from the mound, striking out eight and giving up just four hits in his shutout victory. Jack Deeds (Moeller High School) was awarded tournament MVP, while Liam Morgenroth (Princeton High School), Rayner and Wilson were named to the all-tournament team.
"Watching the players and coaches celebrate after the game makes coaching well worth it, especially being able to share a national championship with our four seniors (Jack Deeds, Caleb Wesley, Ian Wiles and Grant Gillespie)," said Head Coach Keith Bauman, who served as assistant coach when the Cougars took the title in 2013. "These seniors finished second twice; to see them finally get to lift the trophy was tremendous."
In the regular season, the Cougars finished with a 37-13 overall record, the third best record in the USCAA and the most single-season wins in team history. They also broke team records for most hits, home runs, RBIs and runs.
Deeds set three individual records, posting the most at-bats, hits and runs by a player in a single season. Wilson tied a program record for most home runs and set records for most RBIs, wins and strikeouts. Hunter Johnson (Milford High School) tied the record for appearances by a pitcher and set a record for most saves.
But while the team was talented, they were also young - 21 out of the 29 players were in their first year as a Cougar. Coaches and veteran leaders helped new faces buy in to a winning culture that culminated in a championship.
"Our leaders were not going to be denied," said Bauman. "Every day at practice, they led with passion to make us better. Every game they displayed how to play 'Cougar ball.' The leaders lived our culture and taught our new players what it is to be a Cougar."
And this year once again, to be a Cougar is to be a national champion.
"The baseball program is strong and keeps growing," Bauman said. "Our current players know how hard our alums worked to create a winning tradition, so they also work to keep the tradition going."
Featured image at top: The UC Clermont baseball team celebrates its national championship win. Photo/USCAA
