Inside of Ohio, Indiana and Michigan are 10 schools with one thing on their minds this baseball season — beating their fellow Crossroads League rivals and winning the NAIA World Series.
Taylor secured first place in the CL regular season with a 42-16 overall record. Indiana Wesleyan followed in second with a 34-15 record, while Saint Francis took third at 40-19. Huntington finished fourth at 30-21. Mount Vernon Nazarene ended in fifth place at 23-26.
Taylor’s conference record was 30-6, Indiana Wesleyan finished at 27-9, Saint Francis was 24-12, Huntington was 23-13 and Mount Vernon Nazarene ended at 18-18.
Saint Francis held the third seed in the 2024 CL tournament and they proved it, defeating #4 Huntington, #2 Indiana Wesleyan and advancing to the championship.
#1 Taylor won the double, taking home the Crossroads League Championship against Saint Francis, 7-4, on their home field in Upland, IN, after losing only one game to Huntington in the tournament.
Each game in the tournament was a close battle.
As for the Trojans, their head coach, Kyle Gould, is back for his 21st season as head coach.
Gould said his Trojans are preparing for tough competition, such as the 9-1 MVNU Cougars. He said competing against the tough #RV St. Thomas Bobcats in Florida from Feb. 13-15 and playing other great teams in Arizona has helped them be prepared.
In a disappointing turn for Taylor, they have already experienced minor setbacks in the roster. However, Gould remained optimistic, saying he has depth on his squad.
“Sometimes that’s hard when you have really good players not getting a lot of playing time as much as they would somewhere else, but when you have injuries or guys struggling a little bit, we just have a lot of different options of guys to go to,” Gould said.
Last season, crosstown rival Indiana Wesleyan came in second place.
The Wildcats currently hold a 5-4 overall record after competing in Lawrenceville, Ga., and Kingsport, Tenn.
IWU has also faced stiff competition in their early-season games. They lost twice to No. 3 Georgia Gwinnett and played one game against No. 5 University of the Cumberlands (Ky.), which resulted in a 3-1 win.
Last season’s third place finisher in the CL and tournament runner-up, the USF Cougars, are off to a 2-9 start.
The Cougars previously competed in Lakeland, Fla., and Lawrenceville, Ga. USF’s head coach, Dustin Butcher, said his starting pitchers performed well and he added that No. 11 Southeastern was losing to the Cougars in 19 of the 28 total innings played in Florida. Butcher also talked about what his team has done differently this year, compared to last season.
“This group’s so process-oriented, where they don’t let wins and losses define them,” Butcher said.
Butcher also said his team’s age, depth and grit set them apart from the rest of the CL. He additionally highlighted his coaching staff as a huge boost.
The team that finished in fourth place in the CL in 2023-24 were the Huntington Foresters, who hold a .500 overall record this year at 6-6. Huntington competed in Lawrenceville, Ga., against No. 3 Georgia Gwinnett and Midway. The Foresters were 1-3 after leaving Lawrenceville.
Trailing Huntington in the CL standings last year were the MVNU Cougars in fifth place.
MVNU previously travelled to Royal Oak, MI, and swept Michigan-Dearborn in a three-game series. Their only loss so far came at the hands of their CL rival, the Bethel Pilots, in a 3-1 game.
Fans, you won’t want to miss what the Crossroads League has to offer this season because there’s a certain atmosphere around college baseball that is special to young athletes.
