Scottsbluff's Marsden to play baseball for WNCC

Submitted by Jeremy Woznick, Star-Herald Sports Reporter

As a prep standout in four sports, Scottsbluff High School graduate Trace Marsden certainly had plenty of opportunities to continue his athletic career at the collegiate level.

But in the end, Marsden recently decided to start his career at the next level as a member of the Western Nebraska Community College baseball team.

"I just felt baseball would be a better fit for me and WNCC is a good place to start," said Marsden, who also excelled for the Bearcats in football, basketball and track and field. "Hopefully, if things go well here, I'll be able to go somewhere else a little bigger and keep playing."

As a three-year starter for the WESTCO Zephyrs senior legion baseball team, Marsden developed into one of the top offensive and defensive players in the region. He started nearly every game at shortstop over the last two seasons and was one of the Zephyrs' team leaders in most offensive categories, including leading the team in stolen bases this summer.

As fine tuned as Marsden is on the diamond with a bat and a glove, it's his overall athleticism and desire to win that quickly caught the attention of WNCC baseball coach Mike Jones.

"The thing that really stands out to me about him is he's just a super athlete and he's been a winner in everything he's done," Jones said. "Because he's such a good athlete, and can do so many things with his speed, his strength and his size, we're not sure what exactly is going to be the best position for him right now. He can play so many places."

Jones said a possible place for Marsden could be in the outfield. The Cougars return no starting outfielders to this year's team, so the competition for playing time at all three spots will be up for grabs.

"Right now our plan is to work him out in the outfield and see how well he does in the outfield," Jones said. "He was a great receiver in football and we think that might be an easy move for him. Our outfield is completely wide open."

Although Marsden's played the last two seasons at shortstop, he's willing to compete for any position on the field.

"It will be a change, but I think it will be fun," Marsden said of moving into the outfield. "I just want to play wherever I can to help the team out the best I can."

Marsden's decision to stay close to home will allow him to re-join his former Zephyr and Bearcat teammate Dallas Liptac on the WNCC squad. Liptac will be in his second year with the Cougars and will be competing for the starting catcher's job.

"It was always fun playing with Dallas," Marsden said. "He's always encouraging and he helps me quite a bit. It will be nice working with him again."

Marsden also said his decision to play at WNCC will allow his older brother, Tanner, to continue watching him. Trace credits Tanner for being a big inspiration to him.

"It's going to be fun," Marsden said. "Whenever you move up in any sport, it's going to be a lot more competitive and that's something I'm looking forward to.

"Playing under Mr. [Mark] Moran also helped prepare me for this. He taught me a lot about the game and the different situations you face."

Marsden had a sports year to remember as a senior. Before excelling for the Zephyrs this summer, he helped the Scottsbluff football team to a Class B state playoff berth and the Bearcat basketball team to a district runner-up finish. He also ran on Scottsbluff's 1,600-relay team that won an All-Class Gold Medal at the Nebraska state track and field meet in May.

Last month, Marsden was voted the No. 2 male athlete on this year's Star-Herald Dynamic Dozen Athletes of the Year List.

The WNCC baseball team opens practice on Aug. 26. Jones said he's expecting a roster size of around 31 players at the opening practice. In addition to Marsden, another local player joining the team this year is Brady Sanchez. Sanchez was a member of the Chappell Buckley Bombers team that qualified for three straight state tournaments and won a Class C state championship in 2007.

"The freshman class looks pretty good," Jones said. "We don't return a lot of guys from last year's team. There will be a lot of new faces and a whole new attitude. We're going to build things on fundamentals and hard work, and I feel we have a group of guys that fit that mold."

Joining Marsden and Sanchez in this year's freshman class that Jones is high on is right-handed pitcher Tim Kupfner. Kupfner, from Boulder, Colo., is the younger brother of former Cougar starting pitcher Josh Kupfner.

WNCC also received a boost to its roster when Dan Bauer decided to return to school this season. Bauer, a relief pitcher from Minnesota who features a nasty slider, sat out all of last season after being an integral part of WNCC's run to a Region IX championship in 2007.