SIKESTON — Sikeston seniors Nolan Self and Jack Bell will continue their baseball careers at Three Rivers College.

In 2019, Self hit .342 with a .416 on-base percentage and a 1.074 on-base-plus-slugging percentage for a Bulldogs’ team that advanced to the state quarterfinals.

The Bulldogs’ backstop hit six doubles, two triples, five home runs, drove in 28 runners, and scored 14 runs as well.

Defensively, he threw out six base runners and picked off two.

“Nolan is a kid that has a chance to contribute early for us at the catching position,” Three Rivers head coach Tyler Smith said. “He’s a good catch-and-throw guy, a physical kid. We project him to sit in the middle of our lineup. The good thing about Nolan is that he can catch, but he can also play some corner infield so that versatility will give him a lot of options.”

For Bell, the former Richland hurler transferred to Sikeston last year but didn’t get the chance to play at VFW Stadium due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Overall, Smith is equally high on Bell.

“Jack’s another kid that we have high expectations for,” Smith said. “We heard about him from Michael Minner and Todd Pennington as well. He’s what we like in pitchers. He’s a big kid with a projectable frame that’s going to be mid-to-upper 80s, throws a lot of strikes, and he’s going to have the chance to throw a lot of innings for us.”

Alex Wallner - Standard Democrat