From the Basin to the Big League, you can get there from here

There's been a steady stream of Northwest Athletic Conference baseball players come through the various community colleges on their way to the Major League, ever reminding us, “You can get there from here.”

Big Bend Community College has sent a fair amount on to bigger and brighter things. Gordon Corder helped lead the Vikings to the East Region championship in 2002. Corder, who led the NWAC with a .449 average and a league-record 20 doubles in 2002, also had six home runs and 44 RBI, finishing as the 2001 Eastern MVP the year before. Corder played at Gonzaga and was later signed by the Oakland Athletics.

Dustin Knight played with Corder on that 2002 Vikings team, before moving on to North Carolina State where he played on the Wolfpack team that eventually lost to Miami in the College World Series Super Regionals in 2003.

Chad Spellman was a 2001 all-NWAC first team selection that hit .350 that season that went on to Washington State University. Kyle Heaverlo played at the NCAA Division I level in Louisiana, before returning to coach with Donnie Lindgren at Big Bend.

Just last year, the NWAC saw a number of guys selected in the 2017 MLB Draft. Edmonds Community College infielder Zach Needham (Seattle Mariners), Shoreline's Henry McAree (Miami Marlins), Lane Community College's Kyle Beam (Milwaukee Brewers), Kyle Keith (Texas Rangers), Austin Crowson (New York Yankees) and catcher Trevor Casanova (Seattle) were all drafted, just to name a few.

My personal favorite, former Lower Columbia star Bud Black, who was a member of the Kansas City Royals staff that won a World Series in 1985, is now in his second season as the Colorado Rockies manager.

The list goes on. I got to talking with our local Major League expert Big Bend assistant Ryan Doumit, who spent 10 years in the bigs with the Pirates (7), Twins (2) and Braves (1).

“You see it, not only here, but around the NWAC. This is a hotbed for baseball talent,” said Doumit, who played with former North Idaho College standout Jason Bay in Pittsburgh. “(Big Bend) isn't a black hole for kids to come to with the idea ‘I'll play here until I can move on.' We're about turning kids out and getting them onto the next level.”

Former Treasure Valley star Jason Hammel is still pitching in the big leagues with the Kansas City Royals. Hammel's a journeyman, but what a journey it's been since he led South Kitsap High School to a 20–1 season in 2000. He was drafted in the 23rd round by Seattle, but opted to go to Treasure Valley in Ontario, Ore.

His ties from the Basin to the Bigs include playing summer league ball for the Wenatchee AppleSox of the West Coast League.

“It's not out of the realm of possibility, kids get drafted out the NWAC all the time,” Doumit said. “For some guys, this is the highest level they play and that's really good too.

“Not a lot of kids get an opportunity to play college baseball. The only difference between here and a D-I school is that everyone on a D-I roster might have that one or two tools that are exceptional. But, you can get there from here.”

The beautiful thing about baseball is that you never know if you're watching the next great superstar. I mean, standing on the fence line in Ontario, Ore., did they know they were looking at a guy (Hammel) who would start Game 3 of the 2009 National League Division Series or be the Opening Day starter for Baltimore in 2013? Hammel was also the starter in Game 4 in both the 2015 National League Division Series and the National League Championship Series.

Wouldn't that have been something, watching NWAC superstars Gordon Corder and Jason Hammel getting after it in a community college game at Vikings Field?

Yep, you can get there from here.

Rodney Harwood is a sports writer for the Columbia Basin Herald and can be reached at rharwood@columbiabasinherald.com