Agan, Fortner see spring college seasons cut short

By Will Johnson, Sports Editor
Posted 4/15/20

Pitching their way to solid high school baseball careers in Maries County, former Belle Tiger Levi Fortner and Vienna Eagle Logan Agan both played their way into the college ranks.

Seeing their …

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Agan, Fortner see spring college seasons cut short

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Pitching their way to solid high school baseball careers in Maries County, former Belle Tiger Levi Fortner and Vienna Eagle Logan Agan both played their way into the college ranks.

Seeing their resepective freshman seasons cut short due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), both hurlers appear to have an additional year of eligibility from the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA).

For Agan, he was able to start four games for the Blackhawks at Southeastern Commuity College (SCC) up in West Burlington, Iowa which is located in the southeastern corner of the state.

SCC competes in the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) against teams throughout the state.

Starting in four games for the Blackhawks, Agan won three of them while getting a no-decision in the other.

Helped by a five-run third inning by the Blackhawks against Itawamba Community College back in early March, Agan struck out three batters.

In his four games pitched, Agan struck out a team-high 26 batters while pitching his way to a 3-0 record in 15.1 innings pitched.

Allowing eight earned runs, Agan’s earned-run average (ERA) was 4.70.

“Logan was having a good year for us starting things off,” SCC head baseball coach Justin Schulte said. “When he learns to finish hitters off, he will be one of the more dominant pitchers in our league.”

Back in mid-Missouri, Fortner’s baseball playing days continued for the Owls at William Woods University (WWU) in Fulton.

Seeing action in three games, Fortner got the final two outs in the top of the seventh inning of an 8-7 WWU victory over Central Baptist (Arkansas) back on March 7.

“Pitching for William Woods in my first year has been nothing short of amazing,” Fortner said. “The competition from high school to college baseball changes tremendously. In high school, you could get away with a pitch down the middle. But in college, you have to execute every pitch in order to get the results you want.”

WWU head baseball coach Chris Fletcher sees a bright future for the former Tiger turned Owl.

“Levi is a great fit for Owls baseball and William Woods University,” Fletcher said. “He strives to better himself in the classroom and on the field. Levi has shown a lot of growth from the fall to the spring.”

Fortner also saw action on the pitching mound against Robert Morris College (Illinois) and Park College (Missouri) allowing just one hit and one run on a walk and three strikeouts.