McCrabb Signs With North Iowa Area Community College

Wilton senior Collin McCrabb signed a national letter of intent to play baseball at North Iowa Area Community College in Mason City on November 8.  Pictured here are, front row l-r: Billy McCrabb (father), Collin McCrabb, Joyce McCrabb (mother).  Back row: Wilton assistant baseball coach Ed Sawvell, NIACC baseball coach Travis Hergert, and Wilton head baseball coach Jake Souhrada.  Contributed Photo.

By Ryan Stonebraker
Sports Editor

  MASON CITY — Wilton senior Collin McCrabb is the latest Wilton pitcher to sign with a college to play baseball at the next level. McCrabb made good on his verbal commitment earlier this year, signing a national letter of intent with North Iowa Area Community College in Mason City on November 8. McCrabb is a two-time, 1st Team All-State player in Class 2A, two-time All-District player, two-time All-RVC selection and a two-time academic all-conference selection. He was 1st team All-State utility last season and 1st team All-State at pitcher after a 12-1 sophomore season.

  “I decided on NIACC because when I went in my visit they didn’t just show interest in how I was as an athlete. They showed that they care about our development as a person and our success in the classroom. The facilities, dorms, and technology they used to help develop players also caught my eye,” said McCrabb. McCrabb also considered Cornell College in Mount Vernon.

  McCrabb has been one of the most dominant Class 2A pitchers in the past two seasons, collecting a pitching record of 20-2 in 119 innings with 167 strikeouts against 34 walks. He has had an ERA under 2.00 each of the past two seasons. McCrabb’s career record is 20-4 with an ERA of 1.63 in 141 innings. He has 183 strikeouts, 48 walks and has given up 33 earned runs.

  “I think the best part about knowing that I get to keep pitching is, I get to compete with a high level of competition and I get to do something that I love to do at a high level,” said McCrabb.

  McCrabb was one half of the 1-2 punch on the pitching mound for Wilton last year. Fellow senior Jared Townsend joined him in forming the best two starting duo in Class 2A last year. The two were part of a pitching staff that as a team had an ERA of 1.33 and collected 296 strikeouts. Opposing batters batted a minuscule .147 off of Wilton pitching in 211 total innings.

  “Collin had a great sophomore and Junior year for us. He was outstanding on the mound with some big wins for us this year,” said Wilton head baseball coach Jake Souhrada.

  McCrabb was the winning pitcher in the Beavers 3-2 win over Denver in the Class 2A state quarterfinals this past summer at Principal Park in Des Moines. He struck out 10, walked one and have up two runs in 6 2/3 innings to help send the Beavers to the Final Four of the state tournament. Wilton has routinely been ranked in the top-3 of class 2A during McCrabb’s career as well.

  “He throws in the upper 80’s with good command of his off-speed pitches, and has great mound presence and knows how to pitch. He is becoming more and more comfortable and is an elite pitcher,” said Souhrada.

  McCrabb is also an accomplished batter. He has batted over .300 for his career with a best of .382 last season with 34 hits, 34 RBI’s, 30 runs scored and 15 extra base hits. He also had an on-base percentage of .509 and had a career-high with 17 stolen bases. For his career thus far, he has 71 hits, 67 RBI’s, 78 runs, 9 home runs, a .348 batting average and a .485 on-base percentage.

  McCrabb said he is not sure his role in college. He is going in and will pitch wherever they put him, whether that is a starter, reliever, or closer. NIACC is coached by Travis Hergert. The Trojans were 39-19 last year and 16-8 in conference play. The Trojans lost in the NJCAA Region XI Tournament.

  Five players from NIACC’s team last year signed with Division 1 baseball programs this year including former Wilton star Evan Reifert who signed with the University of North Carolina. Others signed with Missouri, Texas Christian, and Cincinnati.

  McCrabb is the son of Billy and Joyce McCrabb of Wilton. McCrabb intends to study physical therapy, but also could go into a field related to oncology.