Century Baseball Wood Ducks Headed to World Series

Century Baseball Team Headed for World Series

For the first time ever, Century College has a championship men’s baseball team that is headed this week to the National Junior College Athletic Association World Series in Tyler, Texas.

Under the leadership of Coach Dwight Kotila, who was named Coach of the Year, Century’s baseball team won the regional championship last weekend in St. Cloud with four wins and no losses. The region includes eight teams from Minnesota, Wisconsin and North Dakota. Century was the number-one seed going into the tournament with a 38-11 season record.

The highlight of Century’s regional championship was its pitching. In all four games, Century pitchers gave up only 14 hits and one run. Century’s top pitcher is Jared Dettman of Somerset, Wis., a sophomore who transferred to Century last fall from the University of Connecticut.

“Jared will probably be drafted to the major leagues, but he definitely wants to complete his four-year degree first,” said Kotila. “He is a great student and a natural leader. As a pitcher, he throws a fastball up to 92 mph. It gives the team a lot of confidence to have him on the mound.”

Jared was the Pioneer Press Player of the Year in 2011. He plans to attend North Dakota State University in the fall.

“I am very happy and excited for the players to experience the World Series,” said Kotila, who brought teams to the national tournament seven times before he helped start the baseball program at Century three years ago. “This is also great for recruiting and great for marketing Century.”

At the week-long World Series, the Century players will have the opportunity to work with young people at a baseball clinic, and also interact with Little League teams that will be assigned to the Century team for each game.