KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The MACU baseball team is making its return to the NCCAA World Series at the Kansas City Urban Youth Academy as the Evangels enter the tournament with its first ever No. 1 overall seed in program history. The Evangels will officially open the slate on Friday at 2:30 p.m. and will face-off against the winner of the No. 8 seed Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) and No. 9 seed Trinity Christian (Ill.) from the 11 a.m. game that day.
 
MACU SEASON REPORT

• Record: 35-16
• Last Game: Lost vs. Southwestern Christian (Okla.) – 16-6 – May 6, 2023 – Chickasha, Okla. (SAC Tournament)
• Players to Watch (Hitting):
  • Noel McGarry-Doyle – SO – OF
    • .376 BA (53-141), 9 2B, 3 3B, 11 HR, 45 RBI, 28 BB, 17 HBP, 13 SB, .516 OB%, .716 SLG%
  • Ryan Reed – SR – 2B
    • .370 BA (40-108), 9 2B, 3 HR, 15 RBI, 26 R, 9 BB, 7 HBP, 3 SB, .448 OB%, .537 SLG%
  • Carlos Medina – SO – SS
    • .349 BA (53-152), 15 2B, 5 HR, 29 RBI, 24 R, 13 BB, 4 HBP, 3 SB, .405 OB%, .546 SLG%
  • Yan Ely Adames – GR – C/OF
    • .312 BA (54-173), 7 2B, 2 3B, 12 HR, 38 RBI, 20 R, 12 BB, 4 HBP, .368 OB%, .584 SLG%
  • Andrew Enwiya – GR – OF
    • .312 BA (39-125), 7 2B, 11 HR, 38 RBI, 33 R, 27 BB, 15 HBP, .471 OB%, .632 SLG%
• Players to Watch (Pitching):
  • Isaac Baez – JR – RHP
    • 8-3 W-L, 4.84 ERA, 15 APP, 15 GS, 2 CG, 2 SHO, 80.0 IP, 98 H, 50 R, 43 ER, 11 BB, 86 SO, .299 OBA
  • Cameron Brown – JR – RHP
    • 5-8 W-L, 4.89 ERA, 14 APP, 14 GS, 2 CG, 1 SHO, 73.2 IP, 71 H, 43 R, 40 ER, 26 BB, 74 SO, .251 OBA
  • Ryan Harney – SO – RHP
    • 7-3 W-L, 5.51 ERA, 14 APP, 14 GS, 4 CG, 1 SHO, 81.2 IP, 106 H, 57 R, 50 ER, 14 BB, 50 SO, .320 OBA
  • Kelton Lachelt – JR – RHP
    • 5-1 W-L, 3.49 ERA, 18 APP, 7 SV, 28.1 IP, 33 H, 13 R, 11 ER, 3 BB, 17 SO, .292 OBA
  • Maycin Smothermon – JR – RHP
    • 2-0 W-L, 1.96 ERA, 9 APP, 18.1 IP, 14 H, 6 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 16 SO, .206 OBA
• Team Notes:
  • Mid-America Christian is making its way into the NCCAA World Series by posting its winningest season since 2008, entering as the top seed with a 35-16 overall record.
  • The Evangels are making their second consecutive trip to the NCCAA World Series. Last season, MACU went 1-2 in the tournament as the Evangels opened with a tough 5-4 loss to Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) before bouncing back with a dominant 17-10 win over Carolina (N.C.) to stay alive. Facing College of the Ozarks (Mo.) in the elimination game on May 21, 2022, MACU rallied as Yan Ely Adames hit the game-tying infield single in the top of the ninth to send it to extra innings. In the top of the 11^th, MACU executed a magnificent double steal to take the 3-2 lead, however, the Evangels were unable to hold it as the Bobcats scored a pair in the bottom half as a walk-off wild pitch sealed the 4-3 defeat.
  • Coming into the tournament, the Evangels had five players that earned NCCAA All-Central Region nods with three garnering First Team acclaim. Noel McGarry-Doyle leads the MACU hitting efforts in nearly every statistical category, Yan Ely Adames has proven both offensively and defensively to be one of the most elite catchers in the region while Kelton Lachelt also earned First Team acclaim for his stellar work out of the MACU pen.
  • MACU's two NCCAA All-Region Second Team selections consisted of the team's ace, Isaac Baez, who is leading the team in both wins and strikeouts while Carlos Medina has been a stellar shortstop both at the dish and on defense.

TOURNAMENT PREVIEW

• Due to MACU being one of the top two seeds of the 10-team tournament, the Evangels will get a bye before playing the winner of the Fort Lauderdale/Trinity Christian contest that will take place just before MACU's scheduled game against the winner at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday.
• If the Evangels win their first game, they will play the winner of the No. 4 seed Toccoa Falls (Ga.) and No. 5 seed Oakland City (Ind.) at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday. Meanwhile, a loss would put MACU in the 6 p.m. elimination game on Saturday against the winner of the 11 a.m. contest.
• Due to the double elimination format, the Evangels could play as two games or as many as seven games through the championship game being played on Tuesday, May 23 at noon with an if-necessary game being played at 3:30 p.m.
• Of the 10 tournament teams, the Central Region is receiving the most recognition with six teams competing. Alongside MACU, the other teams from the Central Region also competing are SAC rival Southwestern Christian (Okla.), Baptist Bible (Mo.), College of the Ozarks (Mo.), Kansas Christian and Dallas Christian.
• Mid-America Christian will be representing the Central Region as its automatic qualifier while Baptist Bible is the Independents champion, Oakland City (Ind.) is the Mideast Champion, Fort Lauderdale is the South Region Champion and Trinity Christian is the North Central Region Champion. Southwestern Christian, Toccoa Falls, College of the Ozarks, Kansas Christian and Dallas Christian all received at-large bids into the tourney.