Arkansas’ five junior college baseball additions should add missing elements

BY DUDLEY E. DAWSON

FAYETTEVILLE – There seems to be a lot to be excited about when it comes to Arkansas’ five junior college baseball signees slated to be on the 2025 Razorback roster.

One hit over .400, another slugged 42 college homers, a third hit .393 with 35 steals and 86 runs scored, a fourth is an Arkansas product and a two-time All-American and the other started his season with a cycle and didn’t slow down.

Those five should all be able to contribute right away for Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horne, a former junior college All-American himself at Waco (Texas) McLennan before matriculating to Arkansas.

College baseball recruiting is now a matter of incorporating high school, transfer portal and junior college recruiting as evidenced by the class currently having 17 prep standouts, three portal transfers and the five junior college standouts.

“A little bit of everything,” Van Horn said before last season. “… With our scholarship situation, you have to piece it together. It’s just kind of worked. If you look at the transfers we have coming in, first-team All-American, second-team All-American, these guys, they did some damage and they did it over a period of time.”

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Arkansas junior college signees:

• Brent Iredale, 3B, Hobbs (NM) New Mexico JC

A second-team NJCAA All-American, Iredale hit a school-record 42 home runs in his two seasons NMJC. He hit .441 this season with 25 of those blasts, 78 RBIs, 22 doubles and 94 runs scored.

Iredale was named the WJCAC Player of the year for the second straight season.

Kolton Reynolds, 6-2, 215, OF, Neosh (Mo.) Crowder CC

The Arkansas native and former Huntsville star is coming off a sophomore season in which he hit .369 with 10 home runs, 68 RBIs, 77 runs scored, 6 stolen bases, 24 doubles and 5 triples.

He is a two-time NJCAA All-American, earning first-team honors as a freshman season where he hit .399 with 19 home runs, 79 RBIs, scored 70 runs and also stole 10 bases.

As a senior at Huntsville, Reynolds hit .484 with 12 home runs and 37 RBI while scoring 44 runs and being named a first-team NJCAA All-American.

Former Razorback signee Easton Swafford hit .317 for Crowder this season with 3 home runs, 57 RBIs, 91 runs scored and 12 stolen bases.

Trenton Rowan, INF, 6-2, 200, Liberal (Kan.) Seward County CC

Rowan hit .403 with 10 homers, 41 RBIs, 29 runs scored and 2 stolen bases in 35 games for Seward and is playing summer baseball for the Green Bay Rockers of the Northwest League.

He hit .382 as a freshman with 10 homer, 55 RBIs and 48 runs scored as a freshman.

• Carson Schrack, IF, 5-9, 170, Coffeyville (Kan.) CC

Schrack hit .348 this season as a sophomore with a pair of homers, 42 RBIs, 45 runs scored and 13 stolen bases for the Red Ravens.

In the opening week of the season, Schrack hit .667 (10-for-15) with two doubles, a triple, a home run, nine runs scored, and 12 driven in helping the Ravens to four wins last week.

Schrack hit for a cycle in his season opener, hitting a home run in his last at-bat to complete the accomplishment while also scoring five runs and scoring four times. 

He hit .404 as a freshman with 5 home runs, 55 RBIs, 58 runs scored and 15 stolen bases and was named first-team All-Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference and freshman of the year in the KJCCC East. 

Justin Thomas, OF, Florida Southwestern State (Georgia)
Thomas hit .393 with 14 home runs, 49 RBIs, 86 runs scored, 35 stolen bases, 21 doubles and a pair of triples for the Bucs this season.

He started his college career at  Georgia in 2022 where he saw action in 25 games, starting eight for the Bulldogs and hitting .193 with a double, a home run, 5 RBIs and 3 stolen bases.

Photo courtesy of Razorbacks Communications