WICHITA - For the first time since 2014, Newman Baseball is playing post-season baseball. The Jets clinched an MIAA tournament berth for the first time in program history last weekend with their 9-6 victory over Northeastern State.

Newman finished the regular season 22-28 overall and 14-19 in MIAA play. The 14 MIAA wins are the most in program history and have earned NU the seven seed in the tournament. The Jets will play the two seed Missouri Southern in Joplin, Missouri in a best of three series beginning tomorrow at 1 PM. 

Head Coach Drew Maus has turned the program around this season. The Jets fell just short of making the MIAA tournament last season after finishing in 9th place due to a tie breaker with Emporia State. With a more experienced team, and one of the strongest offenses not just in the MIAA but all of DII, the Jets are ready to make noise. 

"To me, this year was just another step in the right direction for our program. You could see the progress being made after last year and I happy that we continued that step this year. It's a great thing for our guys to get to do and I hope that they enjoy it and have fun playing this game the way they have all year." Maus said of his squad. NU took a huge step in the right direction, exceeding MIAA expectations as Newman was voted to finish tenth in the MIAA Coaches Preseason Poll.  The Jets regular season included series wins over No. 21 Rogers State, Pittsburg State, Northwest Missouri State, Missouri Western, and Emporia State. Rogers State, Pittsburg State, Missouri Western, and Emporia State were all voted ahead of Newman in the poll. 

This year's team honored 14 seniors in the home series finale vs Emporia State. Those seniors have played a key part in the turnaround this year. Garrett VanDeventer leads the Jets in wins with six. The lefty set the tone early this season when he threw a complete game shutout in the MIAA opener vs No. 21 Rogers State. The outing earned him the first ever MIAA Pitcher of the Week in Newman Baseball history. He would then earn his second MIAA Pitcher of the Week award when he held a very good UCO team to just one run in eight innings just a few weeks later. The Jets would win that game 5-1.

Jake Angelico earned the first ever MIAA Hitter of the Week in Newman Baseball history and was the first MIAA Hitter of the Week this season. Angelico hit .500 in the season opening series at Southern Nazarene, knocking in ten RBI's to help the Jets win the series over the Crimson Storm. 

Jenner Steele earned MIAA Hitter of The Week after tearing apart Pittsburg State's pitching just two weekends ago. Steele knocked four home runs and eight RBI's to lead the Jets to the series win in Pittsburg, Kansas. He homered in every game in the series, bringing his total to then 19 on the season. VanDeventer, Andrew Prieve and Nate Denniston closed the door on the Gorillas on the pitching side, taking games one and three in the series. Newman stunned Pitt State with an 11-0 run rule victory to close the series. 

The turnaround the program has had has been seen by the players. Hayden VanDePol has been apart of the team since its final season in the Heartland Conference in 2019.   The fifth year outfielder has been a mainstay in the corners for Newman. 

"Looking back we were all super excited to be entering the MIAA and having the chance to play baseball against some of the best competition in the country, as well as coach Maus being hired as the new head coach," VanDePol said. Hayden has been with the Jets before the Maus era. "The program was looking up but still had so much more to grow before we were going to be considered good. As the rebuild started we went through Covid, and a nine win season. This was extremely frustrating for me personally and it took a toll on the team chemistry." The 5th year from Broomfield, Colorado has been one of the main guys to help the turnaround. "The difference this year is the chemistry we have as a team and the trust we have in our coaching staff. Every single day we break it down to "family" which is something I am truly experiencing for the first time here at Newman with my team. Making it to the post season for us was always one of the goals we knew we needed to achieve to reach our end goal." 

Hayden has been making the most out of his final season in a Jets uniform. "For me personally, my career is coming to an end soon so I plan to make the most of these opportunities I have to play a game that has been my life for the last ten to fifteen years. We are here for the first time this year but as Maus always says, "the better we get, the standards for what we are expected to achieve will continue to rise as well." Once my time here is done I'm going to be very excited to see what this very talented group of young guys is able to achieve in the future." 

As one reading this might note, it's been a year of firsts for this Jets squad. But no "first" is bigger individual wise than Jenner Steele becoming the first ever MIAA Player of the Year in Newman history. The MIAA announced Steele as its Co-Player of the year after leading the MIAA in multiple categories, and making his name known in DII baseball. Steele finished the regular season first in average (.423), on base + slugging percentage (1.308), hits (85), total bags (165), and slugging percentage (.821). He finished second in home runs (20) and on base percentage (.487) and third in RBI's (65). He broke the single season home run record and currently holds the single season RBI record. He earned NCBWA Central Region Player of the Week last week for his performance in the series at Pittsburg State.  His 165 total bags are tied for second in the nation and his 85 hits has him alone at sixth. His 20 home runs is fifth in DII.

"Nothing more can be said than what Jenner has meant to our program. He's always been a great hitter but having the accolades to show the conference what he's done is amazing for him. I'm proud of him and he deserves it." Maus said of Steele. Jenner joined the Jets last season and has already put himself all over the record books. 

Steele wasn't the only player to smash a ton of home runs this season. Zack Stewart was a silent assassin at the plate this season. His 49 hits were fourth best on the team, but what stood out most was his 15 home runs and 50 RBI's. For most of the season Stewart, Angelico, and Steele were neck and neck for the home run race. All three broke the single season home run record that was set last season (10). Steele took control late in the season, hitting five home runs in his final two series. 

This year's team saw four players earn five MIAA post season accolades. Steele also earned First Team All-MIAA, the first player to earn First Team since 2018. Jake Angelico and Jason Schneider earned Third Team All-MIAA. Schneider hit .339 in the regular season, finishing with 5 triples, 6 home runs, and 30 RBI's. Schneider made huge plays at third base this season to keep runners from scoring multiple times, leading to eventual wins. Zack Stewart earned Honorable Mention All-MIAA. 

Newman will be poised to earn their first MIAA tournament victory tomorrow. The Jets and Lions faced off earlier this season with the Lions earning the three game sweep. Two of the three games were high scoring, with both of those being 12-16 losses for Newman. The Lions hitting caused trouble for the Jets pitching staff the entire weekend. NU is looking for its first ever win in Joplin this weekend and will go for it behind Garrett VanDeventer who will get the game one nod. VanDeventer is 6-4 on the season with 56 strikeouts. 

Game one is scheduled for a 1 PM start, followed by game two on Saturday at 1 PM. If necessary, game three will begin at 1 PM on Sunday.

You can watch the game here and can follow along with live stats here. The series will be played at Warren Turner Field on the campus of Missouri Southern. Follow @NewmanJets and @NewmanJetsBSB on Twitter and instagram to keep up with the Jets this weekend