Lots of high school baseball players decide to take the junior college (JUCO) route. There are 437 NJCAA schools across the country and, with over 100 JUCO players picked in the 2021 MLB Draft, the choice can eventually be useful for their careers.
“They have a great experience and they develop extremely well [at JUCO] and then are able to go on to play professional baseball, which is their ultimate goal,” Bradley baseball head coach Elvis Dominguez said.
Bradley has had recent success with junior college transfers. Theo Denlinger, last season’s saves leader for the Braves, was drafted in the seventh round by the White Sox and is currently with their Low-A affiliate.
This season, senior southpaws and junior college transfers Troy Hickey and Grant Jausel are ready to make their mark.
Despite originally committing to Oklahoma State, JUCO gave Hickey time on the mound after an injury kept him in the dugout.
“I was originally going to a Division I school and then I got hurt,” Hickey said. “I just thought for my development and just playing-wise to be able to get innings and rehab, it was the best option for me.”
That experience prepared him well for Bradley, but that doesn’t mean it’s not unfamiliar. After starting at Madison College in Wisconsin, he was moved to the Bradley bullpen last season and led the team in relief appearances.
Dominguez sees the potential in the 6-footer to move between the ‘pen and starting rotation.
“Troy is somewhat of a switchblade,” Dominguez said. “He has the potential to be a starter, he can come in and be a long relief guy, he can be a short relief guy — he just wears so many hats.”
Junior teammates Carl Valk and Matt Hamilton as well as Denlinger also started their collegiate careers at Madison with Hickey, forming a sort of pipeline from the Wisconsin school.
Despite this, Hickey says the familiar faces were not the main reason he came to Bradley.
“I thought academically, financially and baseball-wise, it made the most sense for me, and it’s not too far from home,” Hickey said. “But having people that you know go to a school when you’re brand new definitely eases a lot of the worries you may have.”
Jausel, on the other hand, had no choice but to play at the JUCO level.
“That was my only opportunity to play in college baseball, so I didn’t want to miss my one opportunity,” Jausel said.
The opportunity at Rend Lake College served him well, as he led the Braves in ERA last season.
“It ended up teaching me a lot of things,” Jausel said. “It was a good learning experience because not everything at JUCO is pretty. It’s a gritty place and you’ve got to be tough to get through it, and it makes you choose whether you want to play baseball or not.”
Hailing from Pinckneyville, Illinois, Jausel credits assistant pitching coach Andrew Werner as the deciding factor for coming to Peoria.
“I’ve always wanted a pitching coach that knew what he was talking about,” Jausel said. “I really liked Coach Werner and he told me he could put me in a really good spot and maybe play at the next level, so I came here.”
As a sort of antithesis to Hickey, Jausel began last season in the bullpen yet four of his last five appearances were as a starter, forcing recovery to be his offseason goal. Still, he’s excited for where he’s at and is working to find his role in the Braves’ competitive pitching staff.
“Last year … was the most I’ve ever thrown,” Jausel said. “That was the first time I’ve started since high school. I wasn’t really in shape to be a starter last year but I worked hard over winter break and I came back and everything’s been feeling really good.”
The Braves have a tough schedule this year featuring three Power Five teams and the always difficult MVC slate.
“In order for us to be successful, those two guys are going to have to have great, great years,” Dominguez said.
