State Fair Community College (SFCC) Roadrunners sophomore baseball student-athletes Kole Ficken of Boonville, Garrett Morrow of Grain Valley and Brice Pannier of Sedalia have all chosen to continue their academic and athletic careers at Columbia College.  Brett Holden of St. Joseph will continue his academic and athletic career at Nothwest Missouri State University in Maryville. All four student-athletes will have the opportunity to get an extra year of eligibility because of the COVID-19 pandemic which brought a premature end to their sophomore campaign. They helped lead SFCC to a 15-9 record this season.

Ficken played in all 24 games in his only season at SFCC, led the team in batting average at .446, RBI with 25 and hits with 37. Ficken had a slugging percentage at .735, extra-base hits with 16 and total bases with 61. He tied the team lead in doubles with 12 and in home runs with four, and finished second on the team in on-base percentage at .505.

"Kole (Ficken) is a 4.0 student, who plays a good third base," said Roadrunners Baseball Head Coach Jud Kindle. "He is one of the best pure hitters that I've coached. He will be a great addition to the program at Columbia College."

Morrow tied for second on the team in appearances with six games as a sophomore. He recorded one save in 7 1/3 innings pitched and struck out seven. He finished fourth on the pitching staff in earned run average at 4.91.

"Garrett (Morrow) was our most reliable arm out of the bullpen," said Kindle. "I believe that is the role he will fit into next year for Columbia College."

Morrow made 11 appearances out of the bullpen as a freshman. He recorded two wins and struck out 16 batters. Morrow had a 3.71 earned run average.

Pannier played in all 24 games as a sophomore at SFCC. He tied for the team lead in home runs with four. He finished second on the team drawing 16 walks. He finished fifth on the team driving in 14 runs.

"Brice (Pannier) was an amazing defensive outfielder with a knack for getting on base," said Kindle. "He will be a great addition to the program at Columbia College."

Pannier scored 36 runs as a freshman. He also registered 37 hits and stole 10 bases.  

Holden played in all 24 games for the Roadrunners as a sophomore. He led the team in stolen bases with five and scored a team-high 24 runs. He finished second on the team in batting average at .347, third on the team in hits with 26 and had an on-base percentage of .495. He ended the season tied for third in home runs with two.

"Brett (Holden) is one of the hardest working kids who I have ever coached," said Kindle. "He was the backbone of our team this year. He will do great things at Northwest Missouri."

 Holden led the team in hitting as a freshman at .340, while registering 33 hits. He also stole eight bases.

As freshmen, Morrow, Pannier and Holden helped their team to the "if necessary" Championship Game at the Region 16 Baseball Championship. SFCC finished that season 35-21.

David Rohrbach

SFCC Athletics