NIACC baseball team signs two players

MASON CITY – The NIACC baseball team has added two more signees to the 2018 recruiting class.

Signing with the Trojans are Jacob Cross, a 6-foot-6, 225-pound right-handed pitcher from Abbotsford, British Columbia, and Shane Kelleher, a 6-1, 170-pound infielder from Sydney, Australia.

Cross was 4-2 with a 2.69 ERA in 33 innings of work and 33 strikeouts this past summer with the Abbotsford Cardinals.

"Jacob came on to our radar through our Canadian connection," NIACC coach Travis Hergert said. "He was teammates with our closer Chase Stewart.

"Jacob has really grown in his development and his velocity has taken a big jump in the last two years. He can be a top of the line arm in our rotation."

Kelleher hit .330 with 27 hits, 6 doubles, a home run and 13 RBI for his state league team the Macarthur Orioles.

"Shane is an athletic kid with great hands," Hergert said. He brings a gap-to-gap approach to our lineup and we hope to keep the successful trend of Australian infielder in our program."