Simkins Commits to Hesston

Congratulations to Colby Simkins!  Today Colby held his signing day ceremony at Onaga, celebrating his signing to play baseball at Hesston College on a scholarship next year.  The Larks are coached by Kyle Olson and compete in the Jayhawk Conference.

Simkins has had a great start to his career at Onaga.  After his freshman season was cancelled due to COVID, his sophomore season was the first season of varsity baseball at Onaga High School.  He finished top three on the team in all major hitting statistics, and top two in all pitching statistics.  His accomplishments earned him 1st Team All-League in the TVL and Honorable Mention All-State honors.

As a junior, Colby led the team in hits (30), RBIs (24), stolen bases (24), and led the team in quality at-bat score for the season (166), a number that is now the school single-season record.  He was also second on the team in batting average (.455), OPS (1.098), and slugging percentage (.591), which were all three new career highs.  As a catcher, Colby was as good as it gets in the state of Kansas in 2-1A.  Blocking balls, holding runners, throwing out potential stealers, and framing pitches were all skills that Colby showed elite abilities behind the plate.  His performance behind the plate earned him 2nd Team All-State honors as a catcher.  While most of his time in the field was spent at catcher, he also was top two on the team again in all major pitching categories, and was an elite shortstop and even first baseman at times when the team needed him to be.

Colby will head to Hesston next season with the ability to play multiple positions when he gets there.  Congratulations to Colby, we look forward to a great finish to your Onaga career this spring, and a bright future after that!