Here’s how good the Midland Junior College Chaparrals were this spring: Their No. 9 hitter in their final game, Brennan McTavish, landed a spot on the Northwestern State Demons, a Division I baseball program in Natchitoches, Louisiana.

It helped that McTavish hit .384 in the Texas heat, with nine home runs. This was a pretty stacked lineup, and if you don’t believe me, ask sophomore Stevyn Andrachick.  

“Our leadoff, Dylon Myro, he’s going to Nebraska,” Andrachick said. “Our two-hole, a freshman (the perfectly-named Bammer Maes) — he may get drafted. Our three-hole, Caleb Eager, is going to TCU.” 

Batting fifth in the lineup for the Chapparals, who went 53-12 and finished third at the Junior College World Series in late May, was Andrachick. The former Glacier Twin hit .379 with 18 home runs and 82 runs batted in 63 games. 

That kind of season — or seasons, since he hit .368 in 119 games at Midland — will get D-I looks, and Tarleton State in Stephenville, Texas, was among the suitors.  Others included South Carolina-Upstate, Gardner-Webb and Sam Houston. The Tarleton Texans won out, getting a second baseman with thump and some clutch hits to his credit. 

Exhibit A came on May 14, with Midland playing Howard College at regionals: The Howard Hawks scored four runs in the top of the ninth to go up 14-9. 

The Howard reliever walked the bases loaded in Midland’s half of the ninth, gave up a run and then faced Andrachick. He got off one more pitch.  

“I got a fastball up and in, and just got to it,” Andrachick said. “It was electric, a lot of fun.” 

The Chaparrals won the game 14-13 in 11 innings, won two more to take regionals and went 3-2 at the NJCAA World Series. 

It’s more or less a dream season for a player who had thought he was headed to Sacramento State, only to have that opportunity dry up. The Chapparals were a nice fall-back. 

“They were recruiting me out of high school pretty early,” Andrachick said. “I just said, ‘Hey, do you still have a spot for me by any chance?’ They got back to me within 24 hours.” 

The rest is a whirlwind of games and wins and scouts, but he’s been doing this for a while. He jumped onto the Twins as a 15-year-old.  

“You get 60 games a summer,” Andrachick, now 21, remembered. “That Covid year (2020) was huge. No one else was playing, and we still played 50-some games.” 

Andrachick heads to Lethbridge in a few days for summer ball; then it’s back to Texas.  

“I love the heat,” he said. “That was the main thing I was looking for in my next school: The weather.” 

In early August he’ll head to a town almost 4 hours west of Midland. If they start calling it Stevynville in a couple years, we’ll yet you know. 

Sports Editor Fritz Neighbor can be reached at 406-758-4463 or [email protected]. If you value local journalism, pledge your support at dailyinterlake.com/support.