Catawba College baseball team returns to Division II World Series

SALISBURY, N.C. (WBTV) – The Catawba College baseball team had never reached the Division II World Series until finally breaking through in 2012.

Last weekend, the Indians punched their ticket back to Cary, N.C., for the fourth time since that season.

“Every time you go, you feel like you’re lucky because you don’t know if it’s ever going to happen again,” head coach Jim Gantt said. “You would also like to win the thing. Keep going, but I guess if you go enough, you might get lucky once in a while.”

This is the program’s first trip to the World Series since 2019, meaning no players on the current roster have experienced this big stage with Catawba College.

That doesn’t mean this roster doesn’t feel prepared for the moment.

“I mean, it’s a big moment because it’s the World Series, but it’s still playing baseball,” graduate pitcher Payne Stolsworth said. “It’s nine innings, 27 outs.”

When Catawba College finished runner-up to Tampa in the 2015 national championship, the Indians boasted the National Pitcher of the Year (Craig Brooks), National Player of the Year (Will Alberston), and a third All-American (Blake Houston, honorable mention).

This year’s squad doesn’t boast that same kind of star power. Gantt says that’s a key part of what’s propelled this team back to Cary.

“It’s bigger than the individual,” Gantt said. “They’ve approached it each day trying to do what’s best for our team.”

However, for one individual, this trip to the World Series carries some extra significance.

Catcher Bo Rusher III comes from a long lineage of Catawba College athletics. His grandfather played for the baseball team, and his sister currently plays for the women’s soccer team.

Rusher, a Salisbury native, started his career playing for Gardner-Webb. He transferred back to Catawba College in 2024, using his final season of collegiate eligibility to try to bring a championship back to his hometown.

Catawba College enters the Division II World Series as the No. 3 seed and will open play against No. 6 seed Southern New Hampshire on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, N.C.

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