Longtime coach David “DG” Nelson won’t come out and say it, but the Salt Lake Community College baseball team is feeling a bit disrespected as it heads out to Grand Junction, Colorado, to defend its Junior College World Series national championship this week.
The Bruins, who were a No. 8 seed in the tournament last year before defeating No. 1 Walters State of Tennessee 9-6 in the championship game to win their first-ever national championship, were given a No. 9 seed this year.
Talk about a lack of respect.
“I won’t comment on that,” said Nelson, in his 21st season coaching the #BruCru, as the club prefers to be called.
“That’s the expectation, that’s the goal. For me, I think we’re good enough, and we are playing our best baseball of the year. But you know how it goes. You got to get a couple breaks to go your way, and I’m excited to see what these guys do.”
— SLCC head coach DG Nelson on his team's goal of defending its national title
Having won seven of its last eight games, No. 9 Salt Lake opens defense of its title on Saturday at 3 p.m. MDT against No. 2 seed Blinn College of Texas at Sam Suplizio Field in Grand Junction.
Last year, Salt Lake became the lowest-seeded team to win the Juco World Series in the seeding era, but apparently the seeding committee was not all that impressed. Just making the 10-team tournament — this is SLCC’s third appearance — is a major accomplishment, considering there are more than 560 junior college baseball teams in the country.
Salt Lake arrived in Grand Junction via bus Wednesday night, and got together Thursday to practice and take a team picture.
Can the #BruCru repeat?
“That’s the expectation, that’s the goal,” said Nelson. “For me, I think we’re good enough, and we are playing our best baseball of the year. But you know how it goes. You got to get a couple breaks to go your way, and I’m excited to see what these guys do.”
Having gone 48-11 last year with a sophomore-laden squad, Salt Lake only returned two key contributors from that team in 2026: BYU-bound outfielder Kade Gambill and pitcher Easton Davies, who has signed with Oklahoma.
Expectations this season were a bit lower, especially after they struggled in late March and early April, losing four of six games in one stretch; however, they went 4-0 at the Region 18 tournament, sweeping Utah State-Eastern and College of Southern Idaho, and then won the district playoffs to punch their ticket to nationals.
Last Saturday, they beat Central Arizona College 8-1 in the winner-take-all district championship game in Beatrice, Nebraska, after falling to the Vaqueros 6-4 earlier in the day. Freshman Drew Smith (Pleasant Grove) had a three-run homer and sophomore Kaden Hodson (Lone Peak) hit a two-run homer in the victory.
LMU transfer Nolan Tillitt of Yorba Linda, California, went 4.2 innings to get the pitching win.
Nelson said it isn’t a surprise that the Bruins are back in the World Series, but acknowledged that it was more difficult than last year.
“I knew we were really talented, and we possessed what we needed to have to get here,” he said. “But we are a very, very young, new team. We definitely had our ups and downs throughout the year. We were learning to play, and had a couple injuries, so we had to kind of move people around. But it’s a very talented group, and they’re driven, and man, do they play hard.”
Nelson said the hard-throwing Davies, who prepped at Orem High, heads a deep pitching staff that includes four or five other guys who are being recruited and will likely move on to four-year programs. Davies, who committed to OU before the season started, is the SWAC Pitcher of the Year and has an earned-run-average of 2.58, the third-lowest in NJCAA Division I baseball.
“Last year, he just threw hard, so we used him mainly out of the bullpen,” Nelson said. “This year he’s executing pitches and sequences much better.”
Smith, catcher AJ Thomas, second baseman Gage Wareham, third baseman Riley Brown and outfielder Lute Chavez also made the all-region first team.
Hodson, Gambill, outfielder Tyler West and outfielder Willy Roberts made the all-region second team.
West, who prepped at St. George’s Crimson Cliffs before walking on to the BYU football team last fall, is a speedster who has committed to Texas A&M.
“He’s freakishly fast,” Nelson said.
Smith, the shortstop, and Chavez are headed to Utah Valley University, while Wareham is going to Colorado Mesa.
“As far as taking leadership roles, you have Kade Gambill and Gage Wareham, two very mature kids that get the game,” Nelson said. “They have done a great job of keeping the group together and focused on what we’re here to do throughout the year. It is hard to (name) an MVP. It is a different guy in the lineup every time that gets it done.”
