SCC baseball team makes it to National Junior College Division II World Series

2017 Storm baseball team.

Outfielder Ben Palensky, of Papillion, leads the teams with 12 home runs and 62 RBI's.

Grant Van Scoy of Papillion, has eight home runs and 47 RBI's.

For the first time in program history, the Southeast Community College baseball team is heading to the National Junior College Athletic Association Division II World Series.

On Saturday the Storm took two games from 14^th-ranked Iowa Central Community College 11-9 and 7-4 at Christenson Field to win the North Plains District title. The Storm’s bats were on fire as they hammered four home runs in each game contributing to 15 hits in the first game and 10 in the second.

Coach Dion Parks said he couldn’t be more proud of his team’s hard work and perseverance. The Storm enters the Division II World Series with a 40-18 record.

“It says a lot about our kids, says a lot about the guys who have been here,” said Parks, who along with his brother, Tyson, coach the team. “It’s a good deal for our school. We have the opportunity to play on the national stage. I’m looking forward to it.”

Parks said many players stood out last weekend, including University of Nebraska-Omaha commit Ben Palensky, who hit two homers over the two-game series. Palensky leads SCC with 12 home runs and 62 runs batted in. Shortstop and Illinois commit Grant Van Scoy also hit a home run on the first pitch of game two. Van Scoy leads the Storm in hitting with a .374 average. Catcher Wyatt Meyer also hit two dingers in game two.

“On the mound, Kayleb Sanderson and B.J. Sparks did a great job,” Parks said.

This is the Storm’s ninth year as a baseball program, Parks’ seventh year of coaching. He says the program has come a long way.

“When I started here we struggled, and we just kept building it up,” he said. “We have a lot of Nebraska kids. We’re fortunate there’s lots of good baseball here. Around 65 percent of our roster is usually from Nebraska.”

Southeast will leave Thursday for Oklahoma, practice Friday and start the series on Saturday. The Storm will play teams they have never played before, Parks said.

“Everybody there is going to be pretty good, it’s going to be a lot of fun,” he added.

The series will take place at David Allen Memorial Ballpark in Enid, Oklahoma, Saturday through June 3. The Storm will play their first game against Lansing (38-15), the eighth seed. Southeast is seeded ninth.