Brayden Whitchurch was content in hanging up his cleats.
After a knee injury and torn labrum at the latter stages of his career at Southwest Oklahoma State University, Whitchurch went back to his hometown of Wichita, Kan., and took a year off from baseball and started working.
Jake Jones, Tabor College assistant coach, called Whitchurch when he found out he had one more year of eligibility.
Whitchurch has had an injury-plagued career, but the opportunity to play under Tabor head coach Mark Standiford was too good to pass up. Whitchurch spent six seasons under Standiford’s leadership through Wichita Sluggers.
Upon hearing of Tabor’s M.B.A. program, Whitchurch became a Bluejay and began his postgraduate work. He plans to pursue sports marketing after finishing his degree.
“Meeting all the guys, we just clicked from the start,” Whitchurch said. “They all accepted me as a first-year guy, and the community was incredibly welcoming. Everyone here has helped out a lot.”
The Bishop Carroll graduate exploded offensively, leading Tabor in batting average (.385), hits (79), and triples (2). He also tied for the team lead in home runs (19), finishing among the top five in the KCAC in the category.
Whitchurch and teammates Cody Moore (SO, Midlothian, Texas) and Jackie Jimenez (JR, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) anchored Tabor, all hitting (.362) or better.
“I try not to pay attention to numbers too much,” Whitchurch said. “We’ve got a lot of guys who got hot late in the year, so I tried to stay consistent and do what I could do to help my teammates.”
Having graduated high school in 2017, Whitchurch took it upon himself to help mentor Tabor’s younger players. His coaches have also expressed their confidence in the experience Whitchurch brings to the dugout.
The Bluejays centerfielder has taken pride in being a table-setter and run-producer. Knowing it is his final season, he has been able to take the pressure off as he enters the batter’s box.
“It was really quite calming,” Whitchurch said. “I wanted to go and make the most of it, and whatever happened is what happened. I enjoyed being around the game one last time.”