Former Ankeny Centennial all-stater Damin Churchman is happy to be back on the baseball field.
For awhile, Churchman wasn’t sure if he would ever play again.
After graduating from Centennial in 2023, Churchman spent one year at Upper Iowa University–where he sat out the season as a redshirt due to arm problems.
“I ultimately left because (Upper Iowa) wasn’t a good fit for me, and there were some unknowns about the future of my baseball career,” said Churchman. “I took the next year off and had surgery to repair the labrum in my shoulder and to deal with some other health concerns, and I wasn’t sure if I was going to go back to baseball or not.”
Churchman credited his brother, Davis, for steering him back to the game. Davis played briefly at Mount Mercy University, then transferred to Iowa State to focus on his academics before playing three seasons at Waldorf University in Forest City, where he is now a graduate assistant coach.
“Davis told me of Northeast Iowa Community College and how they were starting a baseball program,” Churchman said. “I filled out a recruitment form and coach (Conner) Klostermann sent me a text to set up a phone call. After talking to him, I decided to go on a visit and ultimately decided it would be a great opportunity for me to play at NICC and be a part of the first team in their history.”
Northeast Iowa is located in Calmar, about 10 miles south of Decorah. The Cougars played a scrimmage schedule this fall and have now resumed training in preparation for the regular season that starts in February.
NICC will play its first-ever game on Feb. 27 at Highland Community College in Kansas. One of Churchman’s teammates is freshman pitcher/outfielder Darin Severs, who graduated from Centennial last spring.
“Things are good,” Churchman said. “The team is coming together.”
Churchman was named to the all-state super team as a junior at Centennial in 2022, when he helped the Jaguars to a 25-14 record. He batted .444 with three home runs and led the team with nine doubles and 43 RBIs.
As a senior, Churchman batted .377 with two homers, eight doubles and a team-high 33 RBIs while helping the Jaguars to a school-record 30 victories and a share of the CIML Conference title. He was selected to the all-state third team.
Now, Churchman is looking forward to a fresh start at NICC.
“I’ve mainly been at (designated hitter) and first base trying to take it easy on my arm as I’m still working up to 100 percent during the fall,” he said. “We’re a young team in a very good conference, but we have a great group of guys here and we’re excited for the season.”