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JCCC’s Shelley wins 600th game
Johnson County Community College
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Kent Shelley |
OVERLAND PARK, KS -- Johnson County Community College head baseball coach Kent Shelley entered the 2009 season needing one victory to reach the 600-win plateau in his 22-year career, and it took just one game to capture that milestone victory. Shelley’s notched his 600th win on Tuesday, Feb. 17, when his team defeated Longview Community College, 14-3, on the Lakers’ home field.
Last spring Shelley guided his club to a 41-18 record, a Region VI title, and program’s first JUCO World Series appearance. The team finished the year ninth in NJCAA D-I baseball. He also had two players, Doug Otto and Brandon Droge, earn All-American. Otto also earned the first Rawlings Gold Glove award in team history, and was selected to All-JUCO World Series Team, also a first for JCCC. Shelley was also selected as a 2008 Diamond Sports Regional Coach the Year for NJCAA Division I baseball.
In May 2007, Shelley received his profession’s highest honor when he is inducted into the NJCAA Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame.
In 1987, Shelley became just the second head baseball coach at Johnson County, replacing JCCC Hall of Famer Sonny Maynard. Now in his 22nd season as head coach at JCCC, Shelley ranks as the all-time wins leader in the program’s history with a 600-404-1 career mark (.598). He has also led four teams to Eastern Sub-regional championships and three squads to NJCAA Region VI titles. During his tenure, he has produced 11 teams with 30-plus wins, including a 41-18 mark last season, and 20 teams with 20 or more season victories.
Shelley has also coached five NJCAA All-Americans, two preseason All-Americans, six USA Junior College All-Stars, 11 All-Region VI performers, 71 All-East Jayhawk Conference recipients and 14 NJCAA Academic All-Americans. In 2008, Doug Otto was a unanimous selection as the conference MVP, the first in the program’s history. To date, 24 of his former Cavalier players have been drafted or signed as free agents by the Major Leagues since he took over the reigns of the program. Also, a total of 171 student-athletes under direction have transferred to four-year institutions, 141 at the NCAA D-I or D-II level.
On the national baseball stage, Shelley served as head coach for Team USA 1994, a select NJCAA team from the United States that played host to a select team from Japan. In 1990, Shelley served as an assistant coach on the first NJCAA team to participate in international competition. The USA All-Stars from the NJCAA competed in the Friendship Games in Las Tunas, Cuba. He also has been selected as head coach of the Kansas Region VI Eastern Division All-Stars three times. Shelley also has the distinction of earning the first Louisville Slugger/Region VI coach of the year honor, after his team captured the Region VI title in 1993.
Shelley’s service to baseball also includes representing the NJCAA Baseball Coaches Association on the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Executive Committee and serving on that organization’s International Baseball Committee. He has also represented the NJCAA Baseball Coaches Association on the NCAA Division I baseball rules committee. Most notable, in 2002, Shelley was selected to serve on the Executive Committee of the ABCA, becoming the second coach from the community college ranks to earn such an honor. Through his dedication to the ABCA and the sport of baseball, he advanced in the organization and recently assumed the role of President.
A solid background in baseball has helped set the stage for Shelley’s success at Johnson County Community College. He was a collegiate standout catcher at Pratt Community College and the University of Kansas. At Pratt, he was co-captain and most valuable player in 1980. At the University of Kansas, Shelley was elected co-captain in 1982. Following his senior year, he served as graduate assistant for the Jayhawks. Before taking the helm at JCCC, Shelley served one season at JCCC as assistant coach under Cavalier Hall of Famer Sonny Maynard.
