By JONATHAN ZWEYGARDT
Hays Post Sports
HAYS – TMP’s seniors Caden Dinkel and Carson Liles made it official Wednesday, signing letters of intent to play baseball at the next level.
Dinkel is headed to play at Cloud County Community College in Concordia. Liles signed to play at Barton Community College in Great Bend.
While Dinkel talked with other coaches about playing at the next level, he said T-Bird head coach and former Fort Hays State Tiger Eric Gilliland was the first to reach out, and that Cloud felt like the perfect fit.
“When I toured the school, it was just an awesome place,: Dinkel said. “This is where I want to be.”
“The coaches were awesome. The program's awesome. They're going to push you to be your best, and they have really high expectations for you, and it was just the place I wanted to be,” Dinkel said.
You can hear the entire interview with Dinkel below.
Dinkel finished his junior season with a .385 batting average, with 13 extra base hits and 26 RBIs.
Liles also found his perfect fit in a Jayhawk League program at Barton Community College.
Despite other offers, including a chance to play both baseball and football as a kicker, Liles said something about Barton “clicked” on his visit.
“JUCO is where you want to bet on yourself and try and get more after and whatnot, so I decided I think that fits me better, is just bet on myself and see what happens after,” Liles said.
You can hear the entire interview with Liles below.
Liles missed a portion of his junior season recovering from a hand injury, but is a career .366 hitter for TMP with 13 extra base hits and 55 RBIs. He also has a career 17-6 record as a pitcher and was 5-1 this past season with a sub-1.00 ERA. He has 167 career strikeouts in 123 2/3 innings.