Kansas City Kansas Community College outfielder Eli Lovell has earned Honorable Mention on the 2016 NJCAA Division I All-America baseball team.
The Blue Devils’ Most Valuable Player and leading hitter this season, Lovell was one of six Jayhawk Conference players earning All-America recognition. Two players from league champion Neosho County, sophomore catcher Ryan Toliver and freshman third baseman Brylie Ward, were named to the first team while Cowley pitcher Carson LaRue and infielder Shane Cooper and outfielder Caden Doga of Hutchinson joined Lovell on the Honorable Mention list.
A graduate Lincoln Southwest in Lincoln, Neb., Lovell was a two-year starter. As a freshman, he had 69 hits, 38 RBI and a .358 batting average as a freshman but no home runs. This year he had a team leading 15 home runs while pacing the Blue Devils in hits (96), extra base hits (41), stolen bases (16) and batting average (.451). He also finished in the Top Three in voting for the Jayhawk East’s Most Valuable Player award.
“Eli put up tremendous numbers because of all his hard work,” Goldbeck said. “He really worked hard on his craft. He also made himself into a good centerfielder after playing the corner outfield spots last year.”
In addition to a rigorous training schedule, Lovell played for the Midwest A’s in the Mid-Plains League in Kansas City last summer.
“I worked my tail off, lifting and hitting every day and before and after practice in the fall,” he said. “It was a lot harder my freshman year. I enjoyed my time here at KCKCC for sure. I definitely learned a lot my freshman year about the conference and where I needed to be my sophomore year and how much more prepared I needed to be.”