College notebook: Martin perfect in debut with Cubs’ Class A franchise

QUINCY — Riley Martin’s first appearance as a professional baseball player went nearly perfect.

The former Quincy University All-American left-hander made his debut with the Class A Myrtle Beach Pelicans on Wednesday night in a 7-2 victory over the Fayetteville Woodpeckers. Martin, who was assigned to Myrtle Beach earlier in the day, entered in the bottom of the ninth and delivered a 1-2-3 inning.

He struck out the first hitters swinging and induced a groundout to first base to end the game. Eight of his nine pitches were strikes.

The Pelicans are 46-46 and are in second place in the South Division of the Carolina League. They have 28 games remaining.

Gronewold joins Witherspoon’s staff

When Brad Witherspoon needed an assistant coach, he knew exactly who to call.

The former John Wood Community College assistant men’s basketball coach is adding a former Trail Blazer to his staff at Northern Oklahoma College, hiring Brody Gronewold to be his top assistant. Witherspoon became the Mavericks head coach in June with Gronewold officially joining him this week.

Gronewold spent the past two seasons as an assistant coach at JWCC, helping the Trail Blazers win back-to-back Mid-West Athletic Conference titles and secure a berth in the NJCAA Division II national tournament in April. Prior to that, he served as a graduate assistant coach at Missouri Valley College.

A Carthage native and Illini West product, Gronewold played on back-to-back NJCAA qualifying teams at John Wood, helping the Trail Blazers finish as the national runners-up in 2015 and earning all-conference and all-region honors. He enjoyed a two-year career at Missouri Valley, being named an NAIA honorable mention All-American in 2017 when he averaged 16.7 points per game.

Witherspoon was an assistant coach at JWCC during Gronewold’s career and on the bench for the national runner-up campaign.

Wildcats’ Applewhite with all-league nod

Culver-Stockton College outfielder Ronald Applewhite was named to the Midwest Collegiate League all-league team. Applewhite, a senior from Chicago, hit .342 for the Crestwood Panthers in the six-team league. He had a team-leading four home runs and was third on the team with 21 RBIs.

Applewhite hit .231 in 25 starts for the Wildcats in the spring.