The Temple College Leopards baseball had its ups and downs in 2024, like any great collegiate baseball team did.
The Leopards were 32-23 overall and finished 15-17 in Region V's North Texas Junior College Athletic Conference. They were 18-13 in road games and 14-10 at the Danny Scott Athletic Conference.
The conference is one of the toughest in all junior college baseball and the Leopards finished just outside of a playoff spot.
For the season, the Leopards hit .272, had an on-base percentage of .416, and a slugging percentage of .405. They drilled 37 home runs, batted in 303 runs, scored 352 times on 422 hits, logged 86 doubles, five triples 128 extra base hits, and drew 321 walks (19th nationally).
Temple's pitching staff had a good season, with logging 11 shutouts (5th nationally), with included three conference no-hitters including back-to-back no-hitters in conference against Ranger College and at Hill College. The pitching staff also had 13 complete games, six by Garrett Baumann.
The Leopards' staff had an earned run average of 5.16, allowed 222 runs over 387 innings, walked 229 and struck out 367. Opponents hit .269 against the Leopards.
A vast majority of the teams over the junior college landscape have high turnovers in personnel each season. The Leopards are not immune from this, as they have just ten sophomores on the roster and have graduated several players into the NCAA ranks.
Catcher Andrew Ermis (.235, six homers. 36 runs batted in, 16 hit by pitches, eight errors in 295 chances, .973 fielding percentage), outfielder Brayden Simmons (.253, 15 runs batters in, 21 runs scored, 34 walks, .479 on-base percentage, two errors in 54 chances, .963 fielding percentage) and outfield Kolvin Davis (.211, one homer, 14 runs batted in, 22 runs scored, .353 OBP, 15 walks, six HBP, six stolen bases, two errors on 41 chances, .951 fielding percentage) are three of the returning Leopards that started as freshmen last season. Lance Cantrell and Luke Meyer came off the bench in spot duty for TC last season and return for 2025.
On the pitching staff, the competition for the starting slots will be one to watch for this season. Of the current pitchers on the staff, there are only three that started games for the Leopards in 2024 season: Tanner Jackson (11 appearances with seven starts, 3-1, 4.91 ERA, 31 strikeouts, 20 walks in 36 2/3 innings pitched), Zak Johnson (18 appearances with two starts, 2-2, 5.29 ERA, one save, 33 strikeouts, 27 walks in 34 innings), and Eric Tenery (13 appearances with two starts, 3-1, 6.32 ERA, 14 strikeouts, 15 walks in 15 2/3 innings).
Wade Denton (1-1, eight appearances, 6.43 ERA, 12 strikeouts, ten walks in 14 innings) and Gabe Gutierrez (no record, seven appearances, 2.77 ERA, nine strikeouts, 13 walks in 13 innings) are also returning pitchers that made appearances for the Leopards in 2024.
While the 2025 chapter of Temple College Baseball is just starting, the excitement and anticipation of the coming season is present and growing by the day.
Temple College Baseball 2025 schedule (Home in bold, * - NTJCAC, rankings NJCAA preseason poll)
1/25 At No. 1 Blinn College (DH)
1/31 Odessa College (DH)
2/1 No. 1 Blinn College (DH)
2/5 Wharton County Junior College
2/8 At Angelina College (DH)
2/11 At No. 21 Navarro College
2/13 At Alvin Community College (DH)
2/18 At Wharton County Junior College
2/21 Alvin Community College (DH)
2/22 Angelina College (DH)
2/28 (RV) Midland College
3/1 (RV) Midland College
No. 21 Navarro College
3/5 At No. 2 McLennan Community College * (DH)
3/8 No. 2 McLennan Community College * (DH)
3/12 At No. 11 Weatherford College * (DH)
3/15 No. 11 Weatherford College * (DH)
3/19 Vernon College * (DH)
3/22 At Vernon College * (DH)
3/26 North Central Texas College * (DH)
3/29 At North Central Texas College * (DH)
4/1 No. 21 Navarro College
4/4 At No. 21 Navarro College (DH)
4/9 At Cisco College * (DH)
4/12 Cisco College * (DH)
4/16 At Grayson College * (DH)
4/18 Grayson College * (DH)
4/23 Ranger College * (DH)
4/26 At Ranger College * (DH)
4/30 Hill College * (DH)
5/3 At Hill College * (DH)