Noting in a recent phone interview that he was due for an MRI scan of his skilled right arm/elbow, strained in his sixth inning of work during Bayfield’s May 27 survival struggle against the Delta Panthers in the CHSAA Class 3A State Tournament, since-graduated Jackson Queen hasn’t ruled out a reemergence at the next level.

Especially not with two longtime teammates still around to encourage him, when all three Wolverines arrive in Raleigh, North Carolina, and officially set foot on the campus of Wake Technical Community College.

“I’m going there to study criminal forensics, criminal justice for now. But who knows if things’ll change, you know?” Queen said. “As of right now I’m not fully playing. Like, I’m just going to study, but maybe if I get the chance there I’ll play.”

For Lance Mazur and Noah Chamblee, their respective, yet identical, decisions commemorated at separate recognition ceremonies at BHS late in the school year, playing is a given. Both, however, know full well game action will still have to be earned.

“I’m committed as a pitcher; that’s the thing I’m going to be really doing in college,” Mazur said. “It’s the best spot for me to excel and help any team I’m on, I feel. I really like the coaching staff, and liked lots of things the pitching coach was saying.”

“I’ll be at first base,” Chamblee said. “I went on a visit and I liked it. It’s nice out there – the environment and everything, and the coaches, too. I really want to go up there and do the best I can, then transfer somewhere after.”

Under head coach Robert Dudley, WTCC’s now-completed season began somewhat ominously back on Feb. 4, with a canceled game at Caldwell CC & Technical Institute a – making the next day’s twin bill versus the Hudson-based Cobras, at the time ranked No. 5 in the preseason NJCAA Division III poll, Wake’s first actual action of 2023.

Able to post a respectable 11-12 record at their Ting Stadium diamond in Holly Springs, southwest of state capital Raleigh, the Eagles unluckily encountered turbulent flying conditions as regular-season play wound down. And after falling 5-3 to Cleveland CC on May 5 in the NJCAA Region X Tournament, Wake closed up shop standing 17-29 overall.

The loss to the Shelby-based Yetis – whose three ninth-inning runs swiped victory – was WTCC’s sixth consecutive (their three-game set April 29-30 at Guilford Tech CC was canceled), with opponents tallying 10 or more runs in five of those contests.

Cleveland’s campaign, however, soon ended on the short side of a 5-4 result against Kinston-based Lenoir CC, as LCC battled all the way back through the elimination bracket to double-dip Hickory-based Catawba Valley CC in the championship.

Lenoir then lost the South Atlantic District Championship best-of-three series, leaving the Lancers one step short of reaching the 10-team NJCAA Div. II World Series in Enid, Oklahoma.

Wake Tech, meanwhile, did have two Colorado products on its ’23 roster in sophomore catcher and 5A Cherry Creek (Greenwood Village) alumnus Vincent Merlo, plus Kole Rubenking, a freshman left-handed pitcher out of 5A Douglas County (Castle Rock). And with WTCC located near the eastern point of the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill “Research Triangle” area – named for Research Triangle Park, one of the world’s top business parks – academic opportunities won’t be lacking.

“I saw the campus, the housing and the baseball field … around October, and I really liked it,” said Mazur, who indicated an interest in marketing studies. “It just seemed like a good fit; I chose it because, like, it was the type of place I wanted to go.”

“I’ll be doing business administration, and (I’ll) work as hard as I can,” Chamblee said. “Doesn’t matter if it’s in the classroom or on the field … and that’ll always help me succeed in what I’m trying to do.”

Future baseball opportunities might also present themselves. WTCC isn’t far from the USA Baseball National Training Center in Cary, North Carolina, and Ting is also home to the summertime Coastal Plain League’s Holly Springs Salamanders. Featuring teams from the Carolinas, Virginia and Georgia, the wood-bat CPL gives collegians the chance to build skills while being housed with local host families – a la the Connie Mack World Series in Farmington. BHS’ trio, plus fellow ’23 grads Caden Wood and Nic Twedt have all suited up for the Farmington Frackers in city-league play.

Furthermore, more than 1,650 CPL alumni have been drafted and at least 140 have reached The Show – including former World Series champion, American League MVP and Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander (Wilson, North Carolina, Tobs; 2002), former NL Championship Series co-MVP Chris Taylor (Morehead City, North Carolina, Marlins; 2010) and Kevin Youkilis (Florence, South Carolina, RedWolves; 1999), who once held Major League Baseball’s record for consecutive errorless games at first base.

Not all that long ago, Super Bowl XLVIII champ and current Denver Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson played CPL ball in 2009 (the Colorado Rockies actually drafted him in 2010) as a second baseman for the Gastonia, North Carolina, Grizzlies.

“I actually asked the (Wake Tech) coach when I was on my visit, ‘Do any of these guys play?’” Mazur said. “And the pitching coach actually had a couple of the guys playing. I thought if I go (to WTCC), then stay down there for the summer, I could almost get to play, like, indie-league ball with a bunch of legit guys. I thought that’d be good for me.”

Mazur seemed to think Wake Tech, in general, would be just as good a destination for his friends.

“I was talking about college and what I was going to do, and I was talking about (Colorado Mesa University in) Grand Junction. And during basketball season, Lance was like, ‘Dude, you should just apply to Wake,’” Queen said. “I did, and got accepted. And Noah applied, got accepted, so … we just decided we’d all three go there together.”

“Really, it was mostly Lance; he kind of got me on it,” Chamblee said. “I started looking at the place and just liked the way it looked online, and their programs and stuff. Growing up, I always wanted to … be one of the best where I was, always just play and show out, so this means a lot to me.”

“I definitely wanted to get out of Colorado somewhere,” said Mazur, who’d once considered living in Texas and attending high school there. “I wasn’t necessarily looking that far away from home, but it’s close to the ocean and … just a cool place.”