HILLSBORO — Jerrik Sigg’s latest stop in his baseball journey has netted him a conference championship.
Sigg, a 2012 Iola High graduate, has taken the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference by storm for Tabor College.
The redshirt sophomore center fielder is batting .364 with a team-high 11 home runs and 51 RBIs for the Bluejays. In so doing, he also won first-team all-KCAC honors as an outfielder.
Tabor, 22-6 in KCAC play and 47-9 overall, opened postseason tournament play in Great Bend Thursday as the top seed, and defeated Southwestern, 4-2, to advance to the championship semifinals against Kansas Wesleyan. Tabor won Friday’s game 7-2. Sigg went 0-for-3 with an RBI in the win.
The Bluejays will play this afternoon at 1 o’clock for the tournament championship. The winner earns an automatic bid to the NAIA National Baseball Tournament that begins next week. Tabor is the 10th-ranked NAIA team in the country.
Success on the diamond has followed Sigg regardless of the uniform he wears.
In addition to being a standout player for Iola High and the Iola Indians AA American Legion squad, Sigg starred in his freshman campaign at Allen Community College in 2013, batting .360, before transferring to Wichita State for his sophomore season.
A glut of outfielders at WSU prompted Sigg to redshirt for a season. When playing time again looked to be an issue this season, he transferred to Tabor.
In the interim, Sigg has played over the previous two summers with the Valley Center Diamond Dawgs, a baseball team comprised of college players from across the country. The Diamond Dawgs have competed both years in the National Baseball Congress (NBC) World Series.
Four of his summer teammates also play for Tabor.
“I think we all understand that this is the only time that this particular group of guys will be together,” Sigg told the Wichita Eagle. “I think we’re all excited for the opportunity we have in front of us.”
Sigg also has slugged nine doubles and five triples, and has been successful on 14 of 18 stolen base attempts.
He ranks third in KCAC in RBIs, triples and home runs.
Sigg has also played as a flawless center fielder for the Bluejays, and has gunned down three runners on the basepaths.
“He took a leadership role right off the bat,” Tabor head coach Mark Standiford told the Eagle. “He’s been very vocal, done a very good job for us.”
Sigg is the son of Iolan Mitch Sigg and the late Peggy Sigg.
Jerrik Sigg makes most of new opportunity
