Two MCC baseball stalwarts moving on to D2 schools

A pair of starting McCook Community College position players on the baseball team have earned opportunities to continue their careers at four-year programs.

Outfielder Jordan DeMarce is moving on to Northern State University, an NCAA division-2 school in Aberdeen, S.D., and shortstop Markus Coronado has committed to Southwest Oklahoma State University, an NCAA D2 program in Weatherford, Okla.

"I would like to thank both Jordan and Markus for all their hard work here and wish them the best moving forward," said MCC Coach Jon Olsen.

In addition to both players being two-year starters, they leave MCC with academic honors as well.

"Jordan came to us at semester break of 2021 and made an impact right away, he played a pivotal role as a freshman and again this year as an everyday starter in the outfield," Olsen said.

DeMarce, from Desert Oasis High School in Las Vegas, batted .343 in 45 games this year as a sophomore and reached base 45 percent of his plate appearances. He scored 44 runs and drove in 29 with eight doubles and four home runs.

"He was versatile and played every outfield spot for us as well as being a very good left-handed bad, Jordan would always put up a competitive at bat and had a great year offensively this year," Olsen said.

For his time at MCC, he is a career .322 hitter in 85 games with 67 runs scored, 42 RBIs, 13 doubles, five homers and three stolen bases. Defensively, he posted a .979 career fielding percentage in the outfield, handling 95 chances and committing just two career errors.

"I know Northern State is getting a really nice player and great kid, I want to wish him best of luck next year," Olsen said.

Earlier this week, DeMarce was named to the National Junior College Athletic Association All-Academic First team with a 4.0 grade-point average. He made the Dean's List for the spring semester and the President's List in the fall.

Coronado is a product of Nimitz High School in Irving, Texas who overcame a season-ending wrist injury mid-way through his freshman year but came back strong in the 2022 season.

"I have said from the first day I saw him, Markus is an elite defender, Southwest OK State is getting a great player, not only can Markus defend at a high level he had a really nice year at the plate this year," Olsen said.

Coronado appeared in 52 games this spring and hit .316 with a .410 on-base percentage. He had 12 doubles and two home runs. He handled 283 chances at shortstop in his MCC career and recorded a .905 fielding percentage.

"He is an elite defender at shortstop who can hit, and those players are tough to come by," Olsen said. "Markus will be very successful in his next two years. I am happy for him because he gets to be a lot closer to home and play in a great league."

During his two years at Coronado compiled 308 at bats with a .312 career batting mark and 401 on-base average with six homers, four steals and 64 RBIs in 83 games.

Academically he was on the Dean's list in the fall semester.