Published: October 21, 2008 11:49 am         

At Random: Former Lion is first to make major leagues

Coaches would love to have a team full of players like Craig Stansberry. The baseball player from Plano led North Central Texas College to the 2001 JUCO World Series Championship, the only national championship in NCTC history.

But what he did on the field was only part of what made him special.

“Craig is the epitome of what a student-athlete is all about,” NCTC head coach Scott Harp said. “He was a 4.0 student here at North Central, helped us win a national championship during his time here, went on to Rice University and was an intergral part of their national championship team in 2003.”

Harp was an assistant to head coach Kevin Darwin in 2001 when the Lions made their run to the national title. That year was a magical season for NCTC. Making their first appearance in Grand Junction, Colo., at the World Series, the Lions promptly lost their first game, but came back from that loss to win six straight en route to the crown. NCTC capped their remarkable run through history by beating Dixie St. (Utah) College 7-6 to win the championship.

In winning, the Lions became the first team in the history of the JUCO World Series to win six-straight games after losing the first game of the tournament.

Stansberry helped NCTC make history as a freshman. The shortstop was named to the All-Tournament at the World Series while leading the tournament in home runs (3), doubles (4) and slugging percentage (.893). He batted .429 for the tournament with 10 runs batted in.

He came back with a solid sophomore year. He was a two-time NJCAA All-Region and Academic All-American selection. He went on to Rice University in Houston and won an NCAA National Championship there.

He was drafted by the Pittsburg Pirates in the fifth round of the 2003 Major League Baseball draft and was later traded to the San Diego Padres where he became the first North Central Texas College baseball player to make it to the Major Leagues.

“He was a great hard worker and worked himself into a great player,” Harp said of Stansberry. “It’s nice to see all that hard work and the discipline he showed pay off as he accomplished his dream.”

Within a week of Stansberry being called up, another former NCTC star made the big show when catcher J.R. Towles was called up with the Houston Astros. Towles played at NCTC in 2003 and set an Astros record by driving in eight runs against the St. Louis Cardinals.

NCTC has had more than 50 players play professional baseball in its history, but Stansberry and Towles are the only two so far to make it to the Major Leagues, although a couple more may join the ranks this next year.

Pitcher Brad James of Prosper is ranked in the top seven of the Houston Astros’ prospects. James played with Towles in the minor leagues. The two were roommates all the way through Double-A when Towles was called up. Calvin Medlock has been in Triple-A ball for a year and may also be poised to join the big leagues.

Having players like Stansberry and Towles make it to the big leagues helps a program like NCTC when they go out recruiting future players.

“I think that anything that’s a positive for your program like what kids do after they leave North Central is a benefit for your program,” Harp said. “We are really blessed that the administration allows us to play the fall schedule that we do so we get to go play at a lot of the top Division I schools. Our location is right between Oklahoma City and Dallas which is the pipeline of where all the pro scouts are.

“It definitely is a positive for our recruiting when we can say, hey look where these guys have gone Division I or Division II and look what our kids have done in pro baseball and now we’ve got two in the big leagues,” Harp added. “I think it says a lot about the former head coach Kevin Darwin and the program he started and I’m just trying my best to keep it going.”

This past February, Stansberry was back on campus as he had his number 6 retired at NCTC. He is the only Lion player to have his number retired.