Mesa Baseball to hold Alumni Game on Novemver 11th

Monday October 30, 2023 - 4:24 p.m. | Dylan DeVlieger

MCC Baseball will hold their annual Alumni Game on Nov. 11 at 12 p.m. at the baseball stadium.

This year the program has a lot to celebrate including two outstanding teams, one outstanding player, and one incredibly dedicated coach.

Kody Funderburk will earn a baseball on the outfield wall for making his MLB debut this season for the Minnesota Twins. Funderburk played at MCC from 2015-17 and had an 8-6 record, striking out 62 batters. 

Not only was Funderburk a solid pitcher for MCC baseball, but his offense also helped in a big way. In his two seasons at Mesa, Funderburk had a .369 batting average, drove in 86 runs, scored 72 runs, and hit 12 home runs.

MCC will also be honoring the 2014 team that won the NJCAA DII World Series. MCC had to battle their way through the losers bracket in the National Championship in order to find themselves in the championship game against Hinds (Miss) where they would win 9-7 in 11 innings.

That season the Thunderbirds went 52-13, the best record in program history.

Mesa will also be honoring their 2019 NJCAA DII World Series Runner-Up team that fell just one game short of the program's second title. The team finished with a 44-23 record.

The Thunderbirds will be honoring former longtime assistant coach, Doug Rose. Rose was a part of the MCC Baseball family for 25 years and was Cirelli's go to man that helped MCC reach the NJCAA World Series five times, and the NJCAA Region I Postseason 22 times.

Rose was instrumental in all things at MCC including recruiting, mentoring, and helping players on the field as they play baseball the MCC way.