A former Cougar from the 2005 and 2006 seasons, Brett McBride is in his fifth season as a full-time assistant with primary responsibilities handling the Cougar pitching staff. A Lawrence, Kansas, native, McBride’s first stint as a Cougar assistant came during the 2011 and 2012 seasons before returning back after spending one season at Northeast Texas Community College.

Behind the Region VI’s top pitching staff of a 4.03 ERA and 498 strikeouts, Coach McBride’s hurlers helped lead the Cougars to a historic 47-15 season producing its first Jayhawk title since 1994 with a 23-10 record and its first Central District championship earning its first ever berth in the JUCO World Series.

Three members of the Cougar pitching staff earned post-season honors led by sophomore Josh Hendrickson’s 2nd team selection after a year on the hill matching the program’s most wins (11) and resetting the top mark in innings pitched (96.1) with a program second best 125 total strikeouts. Freshman Zach Curry also landed on the 2nd team following a perfect 7-0 season while sophomore utility player Dawson Pomeroy earned honorable mention honors in part to his 14.70 strikeouts per nine innings.

For the fourth straight year under the former teammate duo of Biggs and McBride, the Cougars achieved a cumulative 3.20 GPA or better in the classroom to continue the long standing excellence in the classroom in concluding the 2017-18 academic year with a 3.23 GPA.

Coach McBride and his pitching staff help lead the Cougars to a second place 2016-17 conference finish and a 42-18 season, concluding in the elite eight of Region VI. Three members of McBride’s staff earned post-season honors, including two on the All-Region VI team.

Headlining the pitching staff was the KJCCC pitcher of the year, freshman standout Jarrett Seaton, with sophomore No. 1 pitcher Mason Hiser also landing on the first team while sophomore closer and multi-dimensional player Taylor Langston closing out games to earn a second team honor.

McBride and his band of arms concluded the 2016-17 season as the second best staff in Region VI, finishing runner-up in runs allowed, earned runs allowed, walks allowed, and a 4.09 ERA,.

Stressing excellence on the mound and in the classroom, the Cougars surpassed the 3.20 GPA mark for the third consecutive year as Barton placed third nationally with a Region VI best 3.42 GPA to go along with the College’s top graduation honor as Corrigan Bartlett was selected as one of two outstanding graduates as selected by Barton faculty and staff.

In McBride’s second season, the Cougars finished 29-27 on the season and 15-17 in the rugged Jayhawk Conference boasting an 18-10 record at home. The 2016 version of the McBride pitching staff again ranked top-six in not allowing free passes nor the long ball while coming in seventh for fewest earned runs allowed and ninth best ERA among the twenty-one team region.

For the second consecutive season in the Biggs-McBride era, four Cougars landed on the All-Conference team while also accumulating a 3.24 GPA for the second straight year of a 3.20 GPA or better.

The Cougars went 26-27 and 16-16 in McBride’s first year with pitcher Jordan Plank earning All-Conference team honors and grabbing a Gold Glove Award. The Cougar staff finished the twenty-one team region ranked fifth in walks allowed, seventh in lowest earned runs allowed, and tenth in both ERA and least home runs allowed.