MCC’s Murdoch receives all-American nod; signs on to play for Marshall

McCook Community College graduate Ethan Murdoch was named to the National Junior College Athletic Association all-American team, garnering second team honors.

"I was really excited to hear the news," he told his hometown newspaper, the Swift Current Online. "It's a pretty exclusive list... I'm really proud of getting into that top tier company."

Second-team all-American honors places him among the top six outfielders in the NJCAA and in the top 24 players.

"It is a really big accomplishment for Ethan to make All American, just a great group of players on that list," said MCC Coach Jon Olsen. Murdoch is the first MCC player ever to make first or second-team all-American.

Murdoch, a 6-2 sophomore outfielder from Swift Current, Saskatchewan, led MCC offensively during the regular season, batting .405 with 17 home runs and 74 RBIs in 56 games. The right-hander had 21 doubles and four triples. He had a .496 on-base average and slugged .786. His 42 extra-base hits and 164 total bases, both ranked 10th in the nation, 17th in RBIs and 22nd in home runs before the postseason.

Murdoch received Region IX player of the week honors three times during the season. He won the award Feb 1-12, batting .385 that week with six RBIs and six extra-base hits. The second time he captured top league honors was March 13-19 when he batted .414 with four home runs and 13 RBIs in four games. His final time came one week later (March 27-April 2) when he helped lead the team to its best-ever 16-game winning streak as MCC went 6-0 for the week with Murdoch hitting .667, going 14-for-21, scoring 14 runs, doubling four times with two homers and 13 RBIs.

He was named first-team all-Region IX as a sophomore and honorable mention status as a freshman. He played in 44 games in 2022 before a season-ending injury. He batted .315 with 44 runs driven in, eight doubles and 16 home runs and a .706 slugging average. He was fourth in Region IX with his 16 homers and 17th in RBIs as a freshman.

Murdoch told Swift Current Online that he credited coach Olsen for allowing him to hit third in a loaded McCook lineup all season even after he had been cleared to play just days before the season began from his Tommy John surgery.

"He really trusted my at-bats and trusted I would come around," he said. "Once I got a little bit more comfortable, I guess it started to go my way and some of the extra work and stuff started to pay off. Also, I was really fortunate to be a part of a great offense."

For his career, he played in 106 games for MCC, batting .365 with a .463 on-base average and a .738 slugging mark. With 378 career at bats, he had 31 doubles, four triples, 34 home runs, 118 runs scored and 126 RBIs.

Murdoch will transfer to West Virginia's Marshall University, a division I school, this fall as a junior to continue his baseball career for the Herd. Marshall, playing in Conference USA, has sent 16 players to the major leagues with 33 being drafted by MLB teams since the draft started in 1965.

"We are extremely happy for him in his commitment to Marshall as well," said Olsen. "Ethan has earned everything he has got through hard work and commitment, he is very driven in everything he does – not many people come back from major surgery within a year and have the success he had this year, I'm just really happy for him."

Academically, Murdoch was named MCC's male academic athlete of the year. The award was presented at this year's athletic banquet. In October of 2022 he was named the Myron Mingo Male Teammate of the Year, receiving the 2022-2023 Teammates Scholarship. After his freshman year, he was named to the NJCAA all-Academic first team for student athletes with grade-point averages of 4.0. He was named to the president's list all four of his semesters at MCC.

Murdoch is playing this summer for the Swift Current 57's in the Western Canadian Baseball League.