Every high school athlete has aspirations of playing at the NCAA Division I level, and Kevin Starr is no exception.

After exploring all his options a year ago, Starr made the decision to put his D-I aspirations on hold. Instead, he opted to go the junior college route. It turned out not to be a bad idea.

The Liberty High School graduate (’09) and former Blue Jay standout made the decision to join Iowa Western Community College in Council Bluffs, Iowa. This spring, the Reivers posted a 51-12 record and captured the school’s first National Junior College Athletic Association national title.

“I had some D-I looks last year, but I figured junior college was a better decision,” Starr said. “I thought that if I went to a high-profile school, I’d get better looks later down the line. I thought it would be better to knock out a couple years of experience and play as a freshman and sophomore, rather than sit on the bench my first couple years because that’s usually what happens to underclassmen at D-I schools.”

Starr certainly picked the right school. Iowa Western has made four consecutive appearances in the national world series and has made the trip five of the past six seasons overall.

The program reached another level this year at the 2010 JUCO World Series in Grand Junction, Colo. After a second-round loss in the double-elimination tournament, the Reivers had to play with their backs against the wall and eventually needed to defeat national powerhouse San Jacinto College twice, including 5-4 in the winner-take-all championship game to claim the title.

“To win a national championship at any level is just awesome,” Starr said. “The atmosphere, the pressure of the games, playing in front of 15,000 people, the whole experience, it was just a privilege to be a part of it.”

Even as a freshman, the left-handed hitting Starr made significant contributions, often starting at first base against right-handed pitching.

Appearing in 36 games, Starr posted a .355 batting average, collecting 38 hits in 107 at-bats. He scored 38 runs and finished with 30 RBI, and on the defensive side, he committed only four errors in 231 chances for a .983 fielding percentage.

“Kevin was a major contributor and was one of the players that helped our team tremendously,” Iowa Western assistant coach Rob Allison said. “He’s a great example for the other guys. The best thing about Kevin is that he shows up every day and does his business.”

Starr wasn’t the only former area player to make a difference at Iowa Western. Fellow freshmen Spencer Shockley of Excelsior Springs and Michael Schulze of Lee’s Summit were part-time contributors along side Starr. Sophomore Brent Seifert, a Cameron product who is transferring to Missouri State University in Springfield, led Iowa Western in several offensive categories, including hits (97), batting average (.485), home runs (18) and RBIs (92).

Only a half dozen players who contributed significantly as freshmen, including Starr, will return for their final season with Iowa Western next year. Added to the mix will be a group of 26 incoming freshmen.

“The quality of our sophomores will far outweigh the quantity,” Allison said. “We have players coming back who were fortunate enough to play a significant amount of time and experience a national championship.

“Obviously, this is an exciting time for us. We’ve been to five of the last six World Series tournaments, and we finally got over the hump with a national championship this year.”

Starr should have an inside track at a full-time starting position next year. However, he knows there will be added responsibility on the returning experienced players, such as himself.

“I’m really excited to come back next year,” Starr said. “There’s only a few returning players, and we’re going to have to do all the right things and show all these new guys how to handle the daily grind. It’s not easy. There’s some big transitions. It’s like a full-time job, and then you have all the classroom work on top of it.

“There’s big differences in the game going from high school to college, especially with the speed of the game, and there’s adjustments you have to make. The hardest thing in sports is staying on top once you get there. We’re going to have to do a good job of leading all those younger guys if we expect to continue to be successful.”

When Starr returns to Iowa Western in mid-August, he hopes to do so at full health. Starr needed arthroscopic surgery earlier this month to clean up loose and torn cartilage in his left wrist, an injury he suffered during offseason workouts and then played through during the season.

After some recovery time, Starr will refocus his attention to the baseball program at Iowa Western. But at the same time, he’ll be looking to continue his search for an opportunity to play baseball at the next level.

“I’m going to see what looks I get,” Starr said. “Whether it’s D-I or D-II, I just want to keep playing.”

Sports writer Chris Geinosky can be reached at 389-6654 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .