DeWitt, Maurer and Niggemeyer all played for the Springfield Heat youth travel ball organization, which competed as the Champion City Kings for a few seasons during the mid-2010s. Champion City — a collegiate wooden bat summer team competing in the Prospect League — will play its home finale on Tuesday night against the Chillicothe Paints at 6:35 p.m. at Carleton Davidson Stadium in Springfield.
“Back then, I never thought I would play for the Kings in college and here I am today,” Maurer said. “It’s a cool feeling being in front of the hometown crowd.”
DeWitt, a senior pitcher at the University of Indianapolis, is in his second year with the Kings. He went 3-0 with a 5.54 earned run average for UIndy last season, which advanced to the Division II NCAA World Series last spring.
“You watch kids running around here and we’re signing balls for them; that was us when we were little,” Dewitt said. “It’s pretty cool. … We’re hoping we make the playoffs. It’s good being back here again in my hometown. It’s always good being back.”
A year ago, Houseman and Maurer each played with the Dayton Thunderbirds of the Ohio Collegiate Summer Baseball League, which is designed for students to work during the day and play games in the evening.
“The (Prospect League) is a lot more structured and serious play,” Houseman said.
When Houseman got a call from Kings general manager Ginger Fulton earlier this year to play for his hometown team, he was elated. The senior outfielder is hitting .262 with a home run and six RBIs this season.
“I’ve only been at the plate one time where I really felt, ‘Dang, this guy is good’,” Houseman said. “The big difference is depth. At Bluffton, the Division III starters during weekend play are comparable to any of the guys I’ve seen in this league, but it’s the bullpens that really make a difference. When you get into somebody’s bullpen, it’s better than what I face at school in (D-III) bullpens.”
Maurer got the opportunity to fill in for the Johnstown (Pa.) Mill Rats during a late season game at Chillicothe last summer.
“It was a good experience,” he said. “I got to meet some new guys. Chillicothe’s crowd was about 4,000 people that night. It was cool being in that atmosphere.”
Maurer couldn’t pass up the opportunity to play in front of his hometown crowd this summer. The senior infielder has a home run and nine RBIs in 21 appearances.
“It’s a lot about believing in yourself and saying, ‘I can be here’,” Maurer said. “I’m a good player at my Division III school, there’s no reason I can’t compete with these guys. At the end of the day, it’s baseball.”
Earlier this summer, Maurer’s church, Grace Lutheran, sang the National Anthem before the game.
“I had an entire fan club at that game,” he said.
The summer is special for Niggemeyer because he gets to play with Maurer and Houseman, who were both seniors when he was a sophomore at Kenton Ridge in 2021.
“I really didn’t even get to spend a season with them because of COVID during high school,” Niggemeyer said. “I didn’t even really get to play with them. Now I get to be on a team I grew up going to the games, playing for the Kings as a travel ball team when I was little and getting to run out on the field with the guys. When I was little, I thought of those guys like minor league players and that they were all going to get drafted. Now I’m one of them.”
The Prospect League has been a great experience for the sophomore pitcher at Schoolcraft College, a junior college in Livonia, Mich.
“The level of competitiveness is definitely harder as a pitcher,” Niggemeyer said. “The guys here are older. Being at a JUCO, you’re facing guys that are freshmen and sophomores, 19-and-20-years old. Now, I’m here facing an occasional D-I or NAIA guys who are older. They all compete a little more during at-bats. It makes you work. It makes you better.”
The Kings are making a late push for the postseason for the second straight year. With a second-place finish in the Eastern Division standings, Champion City — a collegiate wooden bat summer team that plays at Springfield’s Carleton Davidson Stadium — would advance to the playoffs for the third time in four seasons. The second-half winner will travel to first half winner Chillicothe for a one-game Northeast Division championship game on Thursday.
Entering Monday’s game, the Kings are one game back of Johnstown with three games to play.
“It’s going right down to the wire,” Dewitt said.
NEXT GAME
Who: Chillicothe (Ohio) Paints at Kings
When: 6:35 p.m. Tuesday, July 30
Where: Carleton Davidson Stadium, 1101 Mitchell Blvd., Springfield
Cost: $9 for adults; $7 for students, seniors and military; Children 5 and under free.
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