Justin Nevells
Chugiak’s Justin Nevells is headed back to the NAIA Championships.
The Doane University third baseman went 1-for-4 in a 1-0 win over No. 24 Concordia in the title game of the Great Plains Athletic Conference Tournament. This was Doane’s first GPAC championship since 2011 as the Tigers improved to 42-10 on the season to match the school record for wins.
The victory clinched an automatic berth to the NAIA Championships for the Tigers, who punched a return ticket after going 5-1 at the GPAC Tournament on their home field in Crete, Nebraska.
Nevells, of Chugiak High fame, started all six games and batted .250 in the tournament on 7-for-28 hitting. He drove in five runs, scored five runs and rapped out two doubles.
His best performance came in a 16-0 win over Briar Cliff when he went 3-for-5 with a double, walk and three RBIs. His two-run double in the second inning made it 9-0 and he added an RBI single in the seventh inning.
The Alaskan earned GPAC Gold Glove honors at his position and was named to the All-GPAC Team.
Matching the 2014 team, #DoaneBB brought home FOUR Gold Glove winners. Earning 1st Team All-GPAC were Lukas White, Nate Mensik, & Joe Osborn. Justin Nevells was named honorable mention All-GPAC. All four were named the top defensive players at their positions for 2023! pic.twitter.com/RTS5eL4b9W
— Doane Tigers 🐯 (@DoaneAthletics) May 10, 2023
Nevells is hitting .311 in 52 games with a career-best 46 runs. The 5-foot-8 right-handed sophomore is a .325 hitter in 129 college games.
He has banged out 55 hits this season – two shy of his career high and five shy of cracking the top-10 for a single season among college players from Alaska.
His 114 career hits are No. 1 among active college players from the state.
Last year, Nevells came up clutch at the NAIA Championships when he doubled in the winning run as the Tigers upset No. 14 Vanguard 3-1.
The victory was the first for Doane at the NAIA Championships since 2012, snapping a five-game losing streak in the opening round.
Nevells finished 2-for-4, driving in the second run and scoring the third run as part of his team’s three-run second inning that carried the Tigers to history.