Picture credit to Brinkley Beever and Taylor Peterson

video credit to Brady Laber

XENIA, Ohio - Most traditional fans are not a fan of the current landscape of college athletics with the abundance of players entering into the transfer portal and the name image and likeness payments to players.

Xenia Scouts outfielder Eli Steadman was forced into the portal when its was announced in March that his college, Birmingham Southern College, would be closing at the end of the semester.

Once the announcement was made to the students, faculty and staff, the baseball team was in the midst of its season. The Panthers began a run that wouldn’t end until the D-III College World Series.

The further Birmingham Southern went in the post season the bigger the story became as a production crew followed them through the journey.

After sweeping the NCAA regionals and super regional rounds the Panthers made the trip to Eastlake, Ohio for the D-III World Series.

After losing the opening game and falling into the losers bracket every game had the fate of the program at stake. Birmingham Southern won its first elimination game 9-7 over Randolph Macon.

Next was Wisconsin-Whitewater where Steadman went 3-for-5 including a two-run home run. 

Unfortunately, the Warhawks overcame a five run deficit capping the comeback with a walk off homer in the bottom of the ninth inning by Sam Baden.

Just like that it was the end of the road for the season, the program and the college. The team decided to take the nine hour bus ride home as opposed to flying out individually spending one last trip together.

After the team got back to campus the realty had set in that this was really the end of the road.

This left players such as Steadman to figure out the next step of the journey. Steadman’s path led him a familiar place with the Xenia Scouts. He knew he needed to play a summer season to help him through the transfer process.

The Scouts were familiar due to the fact that his older brother Cole, a Birmingham Southern alum, was an all-star for Xenia in 2021.

In the mean time, the Scouts await its fate for a possible post season run as they are one of two teams in contention for the fourth and final GLSCL playoff spot.

In July, Steadman announced that his college baseball career will indeed continue past the summer. He committed to play at James Madison University, a D-I mid major program that made it to the NCAA regional round this past spring. 

The Dukes won the Sun Belt Conference tournament qualifying for the Raleigh regional. James Madison won two games before falling to North Carolina State in the regional final game. 

Steadman credits his faith and the mission of the Athletes in Action getting through such a tough time in his college career that has turned out to have a happy ending.

Please CLICK HERE to watch the full interview with Eli Steadman.

ABOUT THE GREAT LAKES SUMMER COLLEGIATE LEAGUE 

The Great Lakes Summer Collegiate, founded in 1987, is a wood-bat league that is certified by the NCAA and is partially funded by Major League Baseball. The GLSCL is a non-profit 501(c)(3) entity that is one of 12 members of the National Alliance of Collegiate Summer Baseball (NACSB). The league currently consists of 7 active franchises in Ohio and Michigan boasting several players that have earned service time in major league baseball.