MCC’s Zeke Minic to play baseball at UNO

McCook Community College sophomore catcher Zeke Minic signed a letter of intent this week to continue his baseball career next year with the University of Nebraska-Omaha.

“I wish him the best of luck. I think he’s going to continue getting better and has the chance to be a really good player,” said MCC Coach Jon Olsen. “Ultimately we always talk about our goal is to move guys on to a four-year level and get to a place they want to be. Zeke really wanted to be at UNO so we’re really happy for him.”

The Mavericks are coming off a 21-28 season, finishing fourth in the Summit League with a schedule that included No. 6 Arkansas, No. 17 UCLA, as well as Nebraska, Creighton, Kansas State, Penn State and BYU.

“The Omaha coaching staff was a big part of it,” Minic said of his decision to pursue UNO. “I love the facilities and the program.”

UNO plays its home games at Tal Anderson Field in Maverick Park, which was completed in 2021.

Minic said the addition of catching coach Tyler Goodro made UNO a top choice for him. Goodro is an Omaha Creighton Prep graduate who helped Butler Community College (Kansas) reach the NJCAA World Series and also played at Arkansas and Cincinnati before a 15-year coaching career. He is well-known for his catching brand and website “Goodrocatching” as well as baseball and softball catching camps, individual and group training as well as remote training.

“He’s one of the best – if not the best in the nation for catchers so that played a big part in my decision,” Minic said. “UNO was the best fit for me to be able to go develop and get the opportunity to go to the next level.”

Minic’s baseball career has veered from a different path than the one he was on at the start of 2023. He arrived on campus earlier this calendar year after transferring from Ventura College in California.

Olsen said it was a couple of his former high school teammates in at Horizon High School in Thornton, Colo., who were the catalysts for bringing Minic to McCook – Blake Banello and Eli Schaffer. Minic was one of five Horizon players on the MCC roster last spring.

“I thought coach Olsen and McCook were going to be my best opportunities to develop and to compete for a starting job,” said Minic. “And it turned out to be a great decision.”

“Zeke was at a school in California and wanted to make a change at semester and so we were able to bring him in,” Olsen said. “I thought he had some abilities defensively that was one of his strong suits – but man he had a great year offensively for us last year.”

Minic appeared in 50 games as a freshman catcher/DH and batted .361 with 13 doubles, 13 home runs and 48 RBIs. He was second on the team with homers and slugging, finishing the season with a .471 on-base average and a .697 slugging mark.

Olsen said the one thing he immediately liked about Minic was his strong arm behind the plate – an arm he calls probably has one of the best pure arms of any junior college player in the country right now.

“Any time you can get a defensive catcher who hits double-digit home runs, you’re going to be pretty marketable,” Olsen said. “UNO has a great program and have focused on Midwest junior colleges. They’re getting players drafted and I think Zeke is going to get some pro looks down the road.”

In the past year, former Mavericks Devin Hurdle signed on with the Texas Rangers as a free agent. In the July MLB draft Hastings native Mike Boeve made history as the highest draft pick in UNO history when he was a second-round pick by Milwaukee, 54th overall. Former pitcher Mark Timmons also signed with the Los Angeles Angels this summer.

For the 2024 MCC season, Minic is looking forward to another great year on the field. Just five months ago, the team played deep into the post-season but came up two wins short of qualifying for the NJCAA College World Series. The Indians won 33 games during the regular season – the most in the past 10 years and the 22-12 record against Region IX opponents is also the best in a decade. The season was highlighted by a 16-game winning streak and an eight-game run in the post-season.

His favorite memory from his first year at MCC was playing in the Region IX tournament first with a pair of games at home against Lamar, then the final-four tournament at Colorado Springs.

“Everybody was all bought in and we just left it all out on the field,” said Minic. “Playoff baseball is just a different level of pressure which is amazing.”

In eight post-season games, Minic handled the post season pressure with 14 hits in 27 trips to the plate, batting .519 with eight runs scored, four extra-base hits and six RBIs. He had a .580 post-season on-base average and slugged .741.

He thinks last year’s post-season run is going to motivate this year’s team and he’s expecting another solid year on the field.

“We have a great group of guys that I think can compete for the region championship,” said Minic.

Looking back on his first year at MCC he said one of his favorite things is how all the athletic teams are supportive of each other.

“We on the baseball team look forward the volleyball games, the basketball games,” he said. “It’s awesome to see athletics here and watch them compete and then see them in the stands for your games.”

Minic is majoring in Business at MCC and is looking at the areas of administration and marketing.