Trevor McCollum: The Fourth Time Around

Baseball didn’t come naturally to Trevor McCollum, but that didn’t stop him from becoming a college baseball player. 

At the age of six, McCollum’s mother signed him up for a rec-league baseball team where he began his journey with the sport that would eventually become one of his passions. 

“I wasn't very good when I was younger,” McCollum said. “It was a lot of hard work in high school and college to get me where I am now.”

Fresh off his graduation from Washburn University, where he spent five years as a member of the Ichabod baseball team, McCollum is entering his fourth season as a Mustang.

“I heard about the Mustangs in the middle of my sophomore year at Washburn. One of my buddies that played at Washburn played up here, and was like, ‘You got to come play here,’” McCollum said. 

Though some may find returning to the same team each summer dull and boring, it’s the people he’s met and the relationships he’s built in St. Joe that keep bringing McCollum back to Phil Welch year after year. 

“Just meeting all the new guys every year, and learning a lot about [them], I think is pretty cool,” McCollum said. 

As a college grad, this will be McCollum’s last year playing for the Mustangs. He said he’s thankful to the sport for teaching him to be a disciplined and hard-working individual even outside of the game.  

“I’m just trying to have as much fun as I can this summer. It’s been great so far, and I’m just going out there, having fun and competing every day,” McCollum said. “It’s been a great last hurrah [in baseball for me].” 

As McCollum prepares to leave the Mustangs and baseball, he does so with words of gratitude and inspiration.

“If I could say one thing to baseball, it’d probably just be thank you for everything it's given me,” McCoullm said. “I've seen a lot of kids struggle when they're young and give up, but if you put in work, you'll get better and you'll be able to keep playing at any level.” 

-   Morgan Albrecht