If you happen to pass by Eck Stadium in the evening, you might notice a group of men pulling into the parking lot and trickling into the indoor practice field.
They’re a group that has met there once a week for the past two years, playing the game they love.
Collin Dugan, president of Wichita State’s baseball club, started the organization during his sophomore year. Dugan said he played baseball for most of his life but after high school, he no longer had a team.
He started playing catch with a friend between classes. It gave him the idea to see if there was a club on campus where they could play baseball for fun.
“I emailed the adviser,” he said. “I was like, ‘Hey, is there a baseball club?’”
When the answer came back, “No,” Dugan decided to start one.
“It was pretty easy to get it up and going,” he said. “It was just getting people to show up is what was the hard part.”
Dugan said they had “maybe four or five guys” in the club’s inaugural year. Gradually, the group grew.
“Last year, it was a bit better,” he said. “We had enough guys to have a team.”
Juan Rangel, a senior industrial engineering major, found out about the club from a flier while living on campus. He’s been going to most of the practices ever since.
“I enjoy baseball, and I enjoy these guys,” Rangel said. “They’re always really fun. They don’t make it feel like I have to be the best at baseball to actually enjoy myself.”
Last year, the team started playing against clubs from other universities.
“We played (Kansas State) twice last year,” Dugan said. “We didn’t win, but it was still fun all the same.”
They also played a team from the McConnell Air Force Base.
“It was weird, because they were all, you know, (in their) 30s, 40s, and they were throwing pretty hard,” Dugan said. ”But it was a lot of fun because they were … really just messing around and trying to have a good time.”
Now a senior, Dugan takes all his classes online. He said the baseball club helps him stay connected to campus.
“I can come here and … still have good friends and all that stuff,” he said.
The group has been playing on the indoor field almost since they started. Dugan said while they’ve been welcomed by many of the baseball staff, they’ve also dealt with some misunderstandings over the years.
“We’d run into the baseball team sometimes, and they wouldn’t give us a schedule,” Dugan said. “And I kind of pushed them for one, and eventually they were like, ‘You guys can come after 8 p.m.’ But we’ve been kicked out before when we … had it reserved.”
Dugan said he buys most of the club’s equipment himself. He and the club’s vice president, Keegan McFarland, also run their own custom printing business and make jerseys for the team.
“There’s nothing that I’d rather spend my money on,” Dugan said. “It’s something I really enjoy, and, you know, if I have to spend some of my money for everyone else to have a good time, I will.”
This year, Dugan said the club plans on playing Kansas State again and the University of Kansas for the first time. He, McFarland and Rangel will graduate this year. But Rangel said he thinks the club will continue. At least, he’ll try to make sure it does.
“I’m pretty sure I’m going to be coming back here as a grad student, so I will try to continue it,” Rangel said. “My hope is that we get to play more games against other teams, and, you know, hopefully win a few games.”
