MCC’s Oliver Davies signs on with Benedictine University in Arizona
McCook Community College sophomore Oliver Davies has signed a letter of intent to continue his baseball career at Benedictine University in Mesa, Arizona, an NAIA school.
"It ended being the best offer for me both academically and athletically," said Davies, a 5-11 infielder from Canberra, Australia.
The Benedictine Redhawks finished the regular season with a 42-12 overall record for the 2023 season and are ranked 10th in the nation, going 21-3 in the California-Pacific Conference. BU qualified for an at large bid to the NAIA National Tournament.
"Ollie is signing with a great baseball school, and I'm excited for him to be able to move on and get to another spot," said MCC Coach Jon Olsen.
Davies said his path to Nebraska was a result of his participation with the Downunder Travellers, a showcase that that takes college and professional prospect players from Australia to play in quality tournament against tough competition in the U.S. The organization reached out to Olsen, who has had several players from Australia come to McCook over the past several years and enjoy success.
He was set to come to McCook in the fall of 2021, but because of visa issues, he wasn't able to get to the U.S. until January of 2022, shortly before the start of the 2022 season.
"He ended up playing a significant role for us as a freshman about two-third of the way through the season, and because of injuries, he got his chance and did a nice job, starting for us at third base and DH," said Olsen.
Davies played in 26 games as a freshman and batted .286 with four home runs, six doubles and 13 RBIs in 27 games and 77 at bats. He also earned a 4.0 grade-point average and was one of nine MCC student-athletes named to the NJCAA all-academic first team. He was also named to the Dean's List in the fall of 2022.
This year, he was set to take over the starting second-base spot and started the first 13 games of the season. However, on Feb. 26 he swung at a pitch and missed, in a game against Northeastern Junior College and broke a bone in his hand – the hamate bone.
Davies said his surgeon determined the bone was broken the previous spring but severely aggravated the break on the swing. He had surgery a few weeks later and was not able to make it back on the field.
"That was a huge disappointment for him and for us," said Olsen. "It's always tough when you have injuries like that and especially to starters and to sophomores."
In his 13 games this year, he batted .302 with 11 RBIs and four doubles.
"Since then, he has been an extremely big part of our team – just being there for the guys and being a positive voice and continuing to be a great teammate," said Olsen.
"I'd say the best memories I've had here are of the playoffs – both of the past two years," said Davies. "Last year we got beat in a three-game series to Lamar, but those were probably three of the most exciting games of the year and then this year, even being injured when we went so deep, winning our first four post-season games and playing in the region championship game was really fun watching the guys."
He said one of his lasting memories of his time on campus will always be of Brooks Hall.
"I'm a big fan of getting to share all our meals with the guys, just coming in after practice, always eating with a different group, and coming down for breakfast before class and getting to know all my fellow students," said Davies.
Davies finishes his career batting .292 in 39 games with 120 at bats, 24 RBIs 10 doubles, four home runs, a .383 on-base mark and a .475 slugger.