By Rob Allison
Prep Baseball Report Iowa

January 15th is the Official Signing Day for prospective student/athlete's to sign their National Letter of Intents (N.L.I.'s) to the 2-year college of their choice. N.L.I.'s officially bind a student/athlete to that junior college for one calendar year (Fall 2016-Spring 2017). Unlike the NCAA signing periods which provide a window of days for athletes to sign; once the NJCAA signing period begins- it is open and athletes are allowed to sign the remainder of the year. Junior colleges are classified in three categories: Division 1, Division 2, and Division 3.

Junior college has become an attractive option for baseball players in Iowa; with only one Division 1 university in the state- University of Iowa- currently supporting a baseball program. There are currently 97 players in Iowa that have committed to college baseball programs; 68 of those will be attending junior college.

Junior college's have reaped the benefits over the last 5-8 years with many attractive prospects ultimately deciding to attend junior college and re-visit their options after two years in pursuit of a Division 1 or possibly a professional opportunity in the future.

3-Time National Champion, Iowa Western CC is Preseason No. 5 ranked. 

In the Iowa Division 2 conference; arguably the most competitive  DII conference top-to-bottom; in the entire nation- has one team currently ranked in the Preseason Top 20 Coaches Poll; Iowa Central CC at No. 10.

Below is the full list of expected commitments to Iowa junior colleges; along with players commitments to colleges out-of-state:

		DES MOINES AREA
PBR STATE RANK	STATE	PLAYER	POS.	HIGH SCHOOL
113	IA	Brandon Heilskov	3B/RHP	Ankeny Centennial
NR	IA	Sergei Swart	C	Bettendorf
66	MN	Luke Wade	RHP	Minnetonka
59	WI	Anthony Leedle	LHP	Clinton
78	WI	Carson Youngquist	C	Hamilton
111	WI	Tyler Bujanowski	RHP	Oak Creek
NR	WI	Morgan Youngquist	1B	Hamilton
NR	NE	Matt Krambeck	1B	Louisville
NR	NE	Masen Prososki	SS	Bennington
		ELLSWORTH
PBR STATE RANK	STATE	PLAYER	POS.	HIGH SCHOOL
34	IA	Greg Anderberg	C	Ankeny
48	IA	Kyle Schmitt	RHP	Van Meter
71	IA	Zach Robeoltman	2B	WDM Valley
85	IA	DeShawn Welch	RHP	Indianola
NR	IA	Kai Reinertson	LHP	Ballard
NR	IA	Jakob Kirman	LHP	Dubuque Senior
NR	IA	Tyler Davidson	RHP	Cedar Rapids Jefferson
NR	IA	Jalen Hunter	RHP	Indianola
88	MN	Sebastian Holte-Mancera	C	Woodbury
106	MN	Nolan Friedrichs	1B	Edina
NR	MN	Logan Becker	3B	Shakopee
241	MO	Chris Bolte	RHP	Park Hills
53	WI	Trent Bauer	C	Green Bay East
NR	WI	Hunter Black	RHP	Durand
NR	WI	Isaiah Cronk	C	Eau Claire Memorial
NR	WI	Kevin Raisbeck	2B	Beloit
		KIRKWOOD
PBR STATE RANK	STATE	PLAYER	POS.	HIGH SCHOOL
17	IA	Trey Cowley	SS/OF	Urbandale
19	IA	Peyton Long	RHP	WDM Valley
20	IA	Spencer Wiskus	C	Iowa City West
22	IA	Cal Stalzer	SS/RHP	WDM Valley
26	IA	Ross Kramer	OF/RHP	Urbandale
29	IA	Chili Moseley	2B	North Scott
35	IA	Austin Miller	RHP	Iowa City West
47	IA	Nic Mougin	1B	Cedar Rapids Prairie
50	IA	Ryan Wyant	RHP/3B	Linn-Mar
53	IA	Cal Clark	SS/2B	Cedar Rapids Prairie
65	IA	Cooper Merrill	SS/2B	Clear Lake
72	IA	Parker Dondlinger	OF/RHP	Mason City Newman
77	IA	Porter Hummel	LHP/1B	West Sioux
110	IL	Korry Howell	SS	Homewood-Flossmoor
		INDIAN HILLS
PBR STATE RANK	STATE	PLAYER	POS.	HIGH SCHOOL
106	IA	Christian Pena	3B	Davenport Central
121	MN	Jack Tully	RHP	Minnetonka
15	ON	Zachary Fascia	C/RHP	Brampton
59	ON	Brett Stenger	RHP	Kingsville
NR	SD	Mitchell Price	RHP	Mitchell
NR	MB	Jared Spearing	LHP	Okotoks Academy
NR	FL	Caleb Stafford	C/RHP	Montverde
NR	AB	Ryan Humeniuk	OF	Okotoks Academy
		IOWA CENTRAL
PBR STATE RANK	STATE	PLAYER	POS.	HIGH SCHOOL
24	IA	Nolan Monthei	C	Johnson
43	IA	Max Steffens	RHP	Central DeWitt
NR	IA	Connor Stanton	RHP	Johnston
NR	IA	Keegan Perez	3B	Urbandale
NR	IA	Gable Reece	IF	Clarke
NR	IA	Steven Skidmore	OF	Cedar Falls
NR	IA	Cade Niblo	RHP	Van Meter
NR	IA	Mason Clasen	1B	Waterloo Columbus
NR	IA	Cole Van Wey	1B	Waterloo East
NR	IA	Matt Lenz	3B	Pocahontas Area
45	MN	Dylan Gasner	C	Austin
71	MN	Willem Aldrich	3B/RHP	Duluth East
NR	MN	Alex Ciola	3B	Austin
NR	MN	Jacob Wallraff	IF	Chisago Lakes
NR	MN	Daniel Phyle	OF	Rosemount
NR	MN	Jaret Stellmaker	RHP	Rochester Mayo
NR	MN	Chad Hinkle	OF	Rosemount
NR	WI	Wyatt Ewert	P	Germantown
NR	NE	Jacob Mohler	RHP	Louisville
NR	SD	Cal Kedik	IF	Brandon Valley
		IOWA LAKES
PBR STATE RANK	STATE	PLAYER	POS.	HIGH SCHOOL
103	IA	Tavan Shahidi	C	Ames
NR	IA	Austin Simmons	RHP	North Scott
65	MN	Nick Lovdahl	OF/RHP	Mounds View
111	MN	Bo Lovdahl	RHP/SS	Mounds View
NR	WI	Alex Bline	C	Case
NR	AUS	Marcel D'Avoine	RHP	Victoria
NR	TX	Aaron Salazar	RHP	Channelview
		IOWA WESTERN
PBR STATE RANK	STATE	PLAYER	POS.	HIGH SCHOOL
13	IA	Keaton Winn	RHP	Pekin
32	IA	Ben Dotzler	RHP	OA-BCIG
12	MN	Tyler Reichenborn	OF	Blaine
30	CO	Dalton Lind	RHP	Eaton
NR	CO	Benjamin Sneider	1B/P	Rock Canyon
105	IL	Mitchell Owens	3B/RHP	Moline
63	KS	Tanner Holen	C	Manhatten
23	MO	Alex Moore	RHP	Mountain Grove
72	MO	Brandon Green	SS	Liberty
NR	MO	Lucas Lowry	OF	Kirkwood
13	NJ	John Van De Mark	1B	Bergen Catholic
26	WI	Brett Smerz	RHP	Pius XI
NR	NE	John Hawk	C/3B	Creighton Prep
		MARSHALLTOWN
PBR STATE RANK	STATE	PLAYER	POS.	HIGH SCHOOL
42	IA	Duncan Snider	RHP	Muscatine
58	IA	Peyton Stephens	RHP/OF	Carlisle
70	IA	Max McCay	C	Carlisle
95	IA	Carter Eldridge	C	Waukee
123	IA	Adam Barrett	OF	Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln
69	IA	Callen Bertrand	OF	Dallas Center-Grimes
119	IA	Tryston Durham	LHP	Carlisle
		NORTH IOWA AREA
PBR STATE RANK	STATE	PLAYER	POS.	HIGH SCHOOL
14	IA	Bryce Ball	1B	Mason City Newman
27	IA	Brody Gugat	RHP	Sioux City North
38	IA	Blake Elsbecker	OF	Algona
73	IA	Cade Schares	C	Don Bosco
NR	IA	Blake Preston	RHP	Ames
15	MN	Fox Leum	OF	Minnetonka
18	MN	Tom Skoro	LHP	Wayzata
25	MN	Ezequias Encarnacion	SS	St. Paul Prep
40	MN	Joey Werner	OF	Hastings
61	MN	Billy Riach	RHP	Lakeville North
NR	BC	Chase Stewart	RHP	Abbotsford
		SOUTHEASTERN
PBR STATE RANK	STATE	PLAYER	POS.	HIGH SCHOOL
18	IA	Austin Martin	C	Southeast Polk
28	IA	Tyler Roeder	MIF	Cedar Rapids Jefferson
30	IA	Sam Powell	RHP/3B	Waukee
33	IA	Braeden Brown	MIF	Burlington
56	IA	Zeb Adreon	1B/LHP	Pleasantville
64	IA	Thomas McLaughlin	LHP/OF	Southeast Polk
86	IA	Jon Rozeboom	1B/RHP	Waukee
107	IL	Bryan Callaly	RHP	Geneva
148	IL	Jacob Curry	RHP	Pontiac Community
NR	FL	Duane Cyr	1B/RHP	Atlantic Community
NR	IL	Jared Skubic	RHP	Coal City
NR	AUS	Josh Rawlinson	OF/3B	South Fremantle
NR	PR	Christian Delgado	LHP/OF	International Baseball Acad.
NR	PR	Reynel Rodriguez	LHP/OF	International Baseball Acad.
NR	PR	Derek Matta	OF	Gabriela Mistral
		SOUTHWESTERN
PBR STATE RANK	STATE	PLAYER	POS.	HIGH SCHOOL
116	IA	Marcus Chieves	OF	Ballard
NR	WI	Matt McHugh	OF	Stevens Point Area
NR	PR	Julio Canales	SS	International Baseball Acad.
NR	PR	Christopher Rabel	C	International Baseball Acad.
NR	PR	Jerryson Villaran	RH/LHP	International Baseball Acad.
		BLACKHAWK- IL
PBR STATE RANK	STATE	PLAYER	POS.	HIGH SCHOOL
81	IA	Alec Capshaw	OF	Davenport Central
99	IA	Nick Hoefer	OF	Davenport West
NR	IA	Tevyn Hutcherson	OF	Davenport Central
NR	IA	Ryan Lorber	C	Davenport Central
NR	IA	Payton McFate	RHP	Davenport Central
NR	IA	Stephen Pim	1B	Bettendorf
NR	IA	Justin Beck	RHP	Davenport North
		HEARTLAND- IL
PBR STATE RANK	STATE	PLAYER	POS.	HIGH SCHOOL
15	IA	Arthur Sells	OF/1B	WDM Valley
		CENTURY CC- MN
PBR STATE RANK	STATE	PLAYER	POS.	HIGH SCHOOL
55	IA	Drew Prange	SS	Ankeny Centennial
60	IA	Jack Voigt	LHP	Ankeny
78	IA	Cory Koster	LHP	Ankeny Centennial