Elliott Engle’s first start on the mound for Doane College was eye-opening.
“We were in the Great Plains Athletic Conference Tournament and had six games in three days,” Doane coach Jeremy Jorgensen said. “He had thrown, like, two-thirds of an inning or so all season. We started him in the championship game and he gave up one run and we won. We could see he was ready.”
This season, he earned All-America honors, was the GPAC pitcher of the year and can add Journal Star Male State College Athlete of the Year honors to his resume.
“It just kind of all came together, my pitching, Doane and our team,” said Engle, a standout at Lincoln Southwest before going to the college in Crete. “Coach Jorgensen really got the program going, and I think we all played our best for him and got the best out of ourselves.”
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The Doane program has won three GPAC titles, a GPAC tourney title and has become nationally recognized. The Tigers have qualified for the NAIA Tournament, set plenty of records — including a 20-0 conference mark this year — and Engle’s contributions were a big part of those achievements.
The 6-foot-5 right-hander posted a ridiculously low 0.55 earned-run average this year while going 9-2. He struck out 66 and walked just 10. In his career, he posted a 24-9 record with a 1.93 ERA, and threw 15 complete games, including five shutouts. He allowed 2.54 walks and struck out nine per game in his career.
“Those numbers show how good a team I had around me,” Engle said. “I could throw, but those guys got us the runs and they made the plays. We did this as a team and I’d like to think the Doane program will keep going and going.”
Engle fell in love with baseball early, playing catcher for the Lincoln Dominators. “I grew too tall too fast and got moved to first base,” he said. “By my senior year, Coach (Doug) Kaltenberger tried me as a pitcher, and that worked out pretty well.
“But I learned I wasn’t going to get by on just a fastball and a breaking pitch when my first pitch in fall ball my freshman year was a triple.”
Jorgensen said he and his staff could see Engle was going to get bigger and stronger with a weight-training program.
“He went from an 88 mph fastball to a 91, then 92, then 93 mph fastball and he learned a good change-up to go with a slider,” Jorgensen said.
Engle earned his degree in fitness management and hopes to sign with an independent pro team or as a free agent with a major-league organization. “I want to play some more and, eventually, I want to coach,” he said.
“We had such a great time at Doane, I’d love to keep going some more. Our last regular-season series with Midland, we had to win to take the conference and the whole field was surrounded by fans, students, even faculty, and that feeling is something we’ll never forget.”
Engle said there is more success in the Tigers' future.
“We never did get to the national finals in Idaho, and I think Doane is headed in that direction. The family feel of our team and our team with the rest of the campus is something pretty special.”