FARMINGTON -- According to the Kansas City Kansas Community College website, "potential" is a term used frequently by head coach Steve Burleson, interpreted as "you have not done it yet."
That is OK with 2014 Farmington graduate Chase Norwood, who recently signed a national letter of intent to play college baseball for the Blue Devils. Norwood has toured the campus and while he likes the atmosphere is intent on making the most of his opportunity.
"Everything about it is awesome. I'm excited to go up there," Norwood said, explaining he plans to major in either finance or education.
"Hopefully it's just a stepping stone in where I want to get to," Norwood said. "I want to go up there, see where it takes me, see how I develop and maybe from there have a chance for Division I or maybe the [major league baseball] draft."
At the start of the 2014 season, Burleson was quoted on the KCKCC website as saying, "Potentially, I think this team is talented with a chance to have some effectiveness but it is extremely untested." If a post-season review is any indication of his ability to tap into athletic ability and transform players into a cohesive functioning unit, Norwood may be in exactly the right spot at the right time.
The Blue Devils got off to a rocky 2-10 start in the Jayhawk Conference but turned things around in mid-season winning 21 of their last 24 conference games. They opened super-regional play with a 3-2 win over Johnson County Community College, followed by a 12-8 victory over Garden City and 7-1 over Cowley County in the Blue Devils' bid for their first World Series berth since 1976.
The Blue Devils utilize a combination of red and white along with the blue in their school colors and Norwood likes donning his high school color of red a little longer.
"It's definitely going to be an honor to take the color on into college," Norwood said.
Norwood batted .320 as a senior with an on-base percentage of .477 and a slugging percentage of .620. He pounded out 16 hits with a mix of 7 singles, 5 doubles, 2 triples and 2 home runs driving in 16 runs and scoring 13 times as a base-runner. Norwood tied for the team lead in getting on base after being hit by a pitch with 11 and drew four walks.
Players on the current roster at KCKCC have been recruited mainly from across central U.S.A. (Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska) with others from states as far away as Alaska and Florida with two international players.
Their 2014 season began on Valentine's Day and ended May 13 with a double-header sweep by arch-rival Johnson Community College, one win short of appearing in the NJCAA World Series.
Norwood has high expectations of himself, instinctively drawing motivation from those who have helped prepare him for the moment.
"People around me have driven me. My three trainers, Kyle Atkins, J.T. Baker and Scott Hody and just my parents -- learning their work ethic really helped me along, too."
Norwood is the son of Scott Norwood and Shawanna Norwood and transferred to Farmington from Rogers after his sophomore year.
"It went really smooth for me. It really helped that everyone down here was really open and really supportive. I couldn't have done it without the supporting cast and the players and students around here. So, everyone made it really awesome for me. I really enjoyed my [Farmington] experience."
"It's definitely awesome. Everyone that comes in here seems to just fit right in. It's a real family-oriented experience and we all love each other at the end of the day," Norwood said.
Sports on 07/23/2014