Cole Baker (Grimes, IA/Dallas Center-Grimes) of the Marshalltown Community College baseball team has signed a National Letter of Intent to join the University of Northwestern Ohio Racers next season.
A right-handed hurler, Baker has made five starts on the mound for the Tigers this year. Baker becomes the second member of the MCC baseball program to sign with the Racers in the past two seasons, joining Austin Gridley who is in his first year at UNO.
"I felt that the University of Northwestern Ohio was the best opportunity to get where I want to be in the future," Baker stated following his signing. "UNO gives me the ability to continue both my baseball and academic career. The Racers are a competitive program and I look forward to competing for a conference title and national championship."
"Along with the baseball success, I liked the facilities a lot and the coaching staff made me feel like it was the right place to be."
The Racers, coached by Kory Hartman for the past seven seasons, are out to a 30-10 record to start the 2017 season and are currently ranked No. 13 in the latest NAIA poll. UNO has won at least 40 games in each of the last two seasons and reached the NAIA World Series in 2015.
MCC head coach Rich Grife sees a bright future ahead for Baker. "Cole is still working on reaching his ceiling. He is going to be a great, great pitcher in the very near future and has the potential to reach a very high level of baseball. I'm looking forward to seeing the success he achieves over the next two seasons with the Racers. Cole is in very good hands at UNO and I feel like they are going to help him reach great heights on the field."
Baker acknowledged his time at MCC as a major learning experience. "Coach Grife has really helped me out in a lot of ways. He helped me understand how to become a better pitcher during my time at MCC."
The Tigers are back in action for a four-game conference series with No. 12 Iowa Western Community College, set to begin at 2:00 PM on Sunday.
