COLBY, Kan. - Over the past week, the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference has been represented on the national stage in two high-profile baseball events including the second-ever KJCCC baseball alumni to appear in a Major League Baseball All-Star Game this past week in Arlington, Texas.

In addition to seeing former Neosho County Community College pitcher Matt Strahm make his first appearance in an MLB All-Star game on Tuesday, July 16th, the KJCCC had four representatives from three member schools (Barton, Johnson County, and Kansas City Kansas) take part in 2024 Baseball Week Haarlem, one of the most prestigious international amateur baseball tournaments in the world.

A member of the Philadelphia Phillies and 2012 graduate of Neosho, Strahm made an appearance for the National League in the bottom of the seventh inning of the 94th rendition of the mid-summer classic to face Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. Needing a total of five pitches, Strahm saw Witt fall behind 0-2 before fouling off back-to-back pitches and eventually striking out to end the inning and Strahm's appearance with 0.1 innings pitched and one strikeout in what eventually ended as a 5-3 win for the American League. 

Baseball Week Haarlem, which took place July 12-19 in Haarlem, Netherlands, is a biannual tournament with the 2024 tournament featuring teams from Chinese Taipei, Japan, Spain, Italy, Netherlands, and the United States. All teams played a round-robin schedule with the top-four teams going into a bracket-style competition over the final two days with the U.S. team finishing 4-3 in their seven total games played and a runner-up finish to Japan. 

The 2024 team was represented by the NJCAA for the first time since 2010 with Robby Bolin (Barton), Ryan Borberg (Johnson County), Gehrig Goldbeck (Kansas City Kansas), and Maclane Finley (Kansas City Kansas) all representing the KJCCC as part of the 24-player roster with 16 NJCAA schools represented. After dropping their opening game to host Netherlands 6-1, the U.S. fell 9-5 to eventual pool-play champion Japan 9-5 before reeling off three-straight victories over Italy (6-4), Chinese Taipei (6-5, 10 innings), and Spain (2-0) to finish as the number three seed after pool play. Getting a rematch with the Netherlands in the semifinal round, the U.S. team won another extra-innings affair by knocking off the hosts 2-1 and handing them just their second loss of the tournament to make the championship game where they fell to champion Japan 10-4. 

Tournament stats saw Bolin lead all U.S. players with a .391 batting average and six runs scored while tying for the team lead in walks (six) and finishing second on the squad with nine hits in 23 at-bats. Goldbeck had 19 total at-bats, recording four hits for a .211 batting average with six walks drawn and a.423 on-base percentage while driving in two runs. On the mound, Borberg was one of two pitchers for the U.S. team to make two starts in the tournament, throwing 7.0 innings and striking out a team-high nine batters while issuing one walk and just three total runs. Finley made two appearances and one start, tossing 6.2 innings and allowing one run on two hits with two strikeouts and a 1.35 earned run average. 

Among tournament leaders, Bolin led all players with five stolen bases and a .533 on-base percentage while ranking fourth in batting average (.391) and fifth in runs scored (six). His six walks were tied for second-most in the tournament among all offensive players.