Allendale Doesn’t Rhyme With Knoxville or Danville. The Baseball Does. Meet the Three Coaches Turning Small College Programs Into National Contenders.
There’s something happening in small college baseball right now that doesn’t get nearly enough attention. Three programs — separated by hundreds of miles and spread across three different governing bodies — are in the middle of the kind of rebuilds that make you wonder why anyone ever counted them out in the first place. One is in a Michigan lakeside college town. Two are in places that end in ‘ville. All three have coaches who looked at a program and saw something nobody else did. The Perfect Game small school rankings noticed. You should too. See where Grand Valley State, Johnson U, Centre and the rest of the schools are positioned in the latest Perfect Game Top 25 Small School Rankings.
NCAA DII
For a generation of DII baseball fans, Grand Valley State baseball meant one thing: winning. Under head coach Steve Lyon, the Lakers went 552-205-2 over 14 years, reached the NCAA Tournament in 11 consecutive seasons, won five Great Lakes Regional titles, made five World Series appearances, and played in the 2004 national championship game. Lyon did something most thought was impossible — turn a program in Michigan into a genuine national power. When he stepped away, the standard he left behind was almost unfair to whoever followed. His successor couldn’t sustain that level, and Grand Valley State gradually faded from the national conversation, spending the better part of a decade as a solid GLIAC program rather than a DII heavyweight.
That began to change when Jordan Keur was hired in June 2023. The former Michigan State standout came to Allendale after stops at Lansing Community College — where he guided the Stars to a 47-3 record and a No. 1 national ranking in 2021 — and as a recruiting coordinator at Western Michigan. The results at GVSU have been immediate. In two seasons Keur posted a 73-39 record, won a GLIAC title, and made two NCAA Tournament appearances, including hosting an NCAA Regional in 2025 for the first time since 2006.
Now in his third year, Keur has the Lakers looking like a team capable of making a deep run. Grand Valley State has opened 2026 at 15-2, with an opening series sweep of Northwood and a romp through Missouri that included four wins over Missouri S&T and a victory over Augustana University. The Lakers are outscoring opponents 195-65 while hitting a collective .350 as a team. Shortstop Evan Morrison, the program’s engine, is off to a ridiculous start — hitting .513 with 35 runs scored in 17 games — picking up right where he left off after last year’s record-breaking season. The pitching staff has been equally dominant, holding opponents to a .222 batting average through 17 games. The program that Lyon built into a DII institution, and that spent years searching for its footing, looks like a team with postseason expectations again — and a coach who has earned the right to carry them.
| Rank | School | State | Record | Weekly |
| 1 | Pittsburg State Gorillas | KS | 19-1 | 2-1 |
| 2 | North Greenville Trailblazers | SC | 19-2 | 3-0 |
| 3 | Tampa Spartans | FL | 16-3 | 2-2 |
| 4 | Point Loma Sea Lions | CA | 18-3 | 4-0 |
| 5 | Catawba Indians | NC | 16-4 | 3-1 |
| 6 | Grand Valley State Lakers | MI | 12-1 | 2-0 |
| 7 | Colorado Mesa Mavericks | CO | 18-2 | 4-0 |
| 8 | Texas Tyler Patriots | TX | 16-6 | 2-2 |
| 9 | Central Missouri Mules | MO | 17-3 | 2-1 |
| 10 | Young Harris Mountain Lions | GA | 18-3 | 4-0 |
| 11 | Seton Hill Griffins | PA | 9-3 | 2-2 |
| 12 | Minnesota State Mavericks | MN | 11-5 | 2-2 |
| 13 | East Stroudsburg Warriors | PA | 11-5 | 5-0 |
| 14 | Lenoir-Rhyne Bears | NC | 14-4-1 | 3-1 |
| 15 | UNC Pembroke Braves | NC | 16-4 | 3-1 |
| 16 | Francis Marion Patriots | SC | 19-3 | 4-0 |
| 17 | Wingate Bulldogs | NC | 18-4 | 4-0 |
| 18 | Belmont Abbey Crusaders | NC | 13-7 | 2-2 |
| 19 | West Alabama Tigers | AL | 18-3 | 3-1 |
| 20 | Angelo State Rams | TX | 16-6 | 2-2 |
| 21 | Westmont Warriors | CA | 14-5 | 3-1 |
| 22 | Augustana Vikings | SD | 12-4 | 4-0 |
| 23 | North Georgia Nighthawks | GA | 18-5 | 3-1 |
| 24 | Cal State Monterey Bay Otters | CA | 13-5 | 2-2 |
| 25 | West Florida Argos | FL | 16-5 | 4-2 |
| DROP | Harding Bisons | AR |
NAIA
Not long ago, Johnson University baseball was one of the sport’s cautionary tales. The Royals went 5-44 just a few years back, the kind of record that makes recruiting hard and keeps programs stuck. That era is over. Dave Serrano arrived in Knoxville with a resume that dwarfs the NAIA level — head coaching stops at UC Irvine, Cal State Fullerton, and the University of Tennessee, a College World Series title, and a Baseball America national coach of the year award — and he has wasted no time putting that experience to work. In two seasons he rebuilt Johnson from the ground up, going 60-40 and delivering the program its first conference tournament appearance, first NAIA Opening Round berth, and first top-25 national ranking, earning AAC Coach of the Year along the way.
Now in his third year, Serrano has the Royals firmly in the national picture. Johnson has opened 2026 at 20-2, a start that includes a three-game sweep at Reinhardt — ranked 14th at the time — and a clean series sweep of Spartanburg Methodist. The Royals are hitting .305 as a team with an on-base percentage of .433 and have scored 181 runs in 22 games, an offensive pace that reflects the speed and lineup depth Serrano has assembled. The pitching staff carries a 3.69 ERA with 153 strikeouts over 183 innings, and the team has already locked in its postseason schedule, with the AAC Tournament, NAIA Opening Round, and NAIA World Series all on the docket.
The schedule ahead will test how real this is. Johnson still has dates against Georgia Gwinnett and Tennessee Wesleyan on the books, and conference play will sharpen the résumé one way or another. But for a program that was losing 44 games in a season not long ago, being 20-2 and ranked in the top ten nationally is not a fluke — it’s evidence that the rebuild is complete and the next chapter has already started.
| Rank | NCAA | State | Record | Weekly |
| 1 | LSU Shreveport Pilots | LA | 21-3 | 3-1 |
| 2 | Taylor Trojans | IN | 18-1 | 2-0 |
| 3 | Georgia Gwinnett Grizzlies | GA | 20-2 | 3-1 |
| 4 | Tennessee Wesleyan Bulldogs | TN | 19-5 | 3-1 |
| 5 | Cumberlands Patriots | KY | 15-4 | 2-1 |
| 6 | Johnson Royals | TN | 20-2 | 4-1 |
| 7 | Southeastern Fire | FL | 15-6 | 3-2 |
| 8 | William Carey Crusaders | MS | 17-6 | 3-0 |
| 9 | St. Thomas Bobcats | FL | 15-7 | 4-0 |
| 10 | Keiser Seahawks | FL | 16-5 | 3-0 |
| 11 | Missouri Baptist Spartans | MO | 10-4 | 1-1 |
| 12 | Hope International Royals | CA | 15-8 | 2-2 |
| 13 | Ottawa Braves | KS | 20-3 | 4-0 |
| 14 | Kansas Wesleyan Coyotes | KS | 17-4 | 2-2 |
| 15 | Bellevue Bruins | NE | 15-3 | 3-1 |
| 16 | Loyola Wolf Pack | LA | 16-8 | 2-2 |
| 17 | Doane Tigers | NE | 13-4 | 2-2 |
| 18 | Abraham Baldwin Stallions | GA | 16-8 | 2-1 |
| 19 | Texas Wesleyan Rams | TX | 19-4 | 3-0 |
| 20 | A&M Victoria Jaguars | TX | 16-9 | 3-0 |
| 21 | Nelson Lions | TX | 18-7 | 3-1 |
| 22 | Louisiana Christian Wildcats | LA | 21-5 | 2-1 |
| 23 | Concordia Bulldogs | NE | 11-7 | 0-4 |
| 24 | Webber International Warriors | FL | 13-9 | 2-3 |
| 25 | Oklahoma Wesleyan Eagles | OK | 15-9 | 2-2 |
| DROP | Faulkner Eagles | AL |
NCAA DIII
The historical record at Centre was not kind to baseball. For most of the program’s existence, the Colonels were a middling DIII program — the kind that showed up, competed, and went home without making much noise nationally. Drew Briese, a Centre graduate himself who returned as head coach in 2016 after years as a hitting coach at Birmingham Southern, has methodically changed that. The early returns were modest — back-to-back losing seasons in 2017 and 2018 — but the trajectory has been unmistakable. Centre won 24 games in 2019, then 28 in 2023, then 36 in 2024, when the Colonels won both the SAA regular season and tournament title and made the NCAA Tournament. Last year’s 32-win campaign kept the Colonels in the Perfect Game top 25 all season long and ended with an NCAA regional run that included two wins before a narrow exit to Case Western Reserve. Those three seasons — 28, 36, and 32 wins — are the three highest single-season totals in program history.
Now in his tenth year, Briese has Centre positioned to make its deepest run yet — and what makes the early returns particularly striking is that they’ve come without Ben Prather, the program’s two-time All-American and one of the best two-way players in DIII baseball. Prather was named a preseason First Team All-American heading into the season, capping a 2025 campaign in which he hit .377, went 8-0 on the mound, and delivered the walk-off grand slam that kept the Colonels alive in the SAA Tournament. He has yet to appear in the 2026 lineup through 12 games. That Centre is 10-2 anyway speaks to the depth Briese has built. The offense is hitting .335 as a team with an on-base percentage of .435, led by center fielder Ayden Lohr, who is absolutely scorching — hitting .491 with 16 stolen bases in 12 games, picking up right where his 11-home run season left off. Aaron Lopez is at .405, catcher Evan Weyler is at .318 with 11 walks, and the pitching staff has posted a 2.85 ERA while holding opponents to a .207 batting average. Freshman Nolan Asher, the touted prep arm from Kentucky, has stepped right into the rotation with 34 strikeouts in 21 innings. The SAA preseason poll picked Trinity atop the conference, but Centre enters as a legitimate threat to own the league — and if Prather returns to the mix, one of the most dangerous teams in DIII baseball.
| Rank | NCAA | State | Record | Weekly |
| 1 | Lynchburg Hornets | VA | 8-3-1 | 2-1-1 |
| 2 | Denison Big Red | OH | 6-1 | 2-0 |
| 3 | Salisbury Seagulls | MD | 8-2 | 3-1 |
| 4 | Johns Hopkins Blue Jays | MD | 9-2 | 3-1 |
| 5 | Salve Regina Seahawks | RI | 4-1 | 0-0 |
| 6 | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Stags | CA | 9-4 | 3-1 |
| 7 | UW-Whitewater Warhawks | WI | 1-3 | 0-0 |
| 8 | Endicott Gulls | MA | 1-4 | 0-2 |
| 9 | Kean Cougars | NJ | 6-3-1 | 2-1 |
| 10 | Trinity Tigers | TX | 6-4 | 1-2 |
| 11 | Centre Colonels | KY | 10-2 | 3-0 |
| 12 | Rowan Profs | NJ | 3-0 | 3-0 |
| 13 | Belhaven Blazers | MS | 12-0 | 5-0 |
| 14 | Cal Lutheran Kingsmen | CA | 12-3 | 4-0 |
| 15 | Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens | CA | 12-6 | 2-1 |
| 16 | Case Western Reserve Spartans | OH | 6-4 | 2-2 |
| 17 | Washington Bears | MO | 9-0 | 3-0 |
| 18 | Christopher Newport Captains | VA | 10-4 | 3-1 |
| 19 | Cortland State Red Dragons | NY | 4-5-1 | 2-3 |
| 20 | Baldwin Wallace Yellow Jackets | OH | 5-2 | 1-0 |
| 21 | Gettysburg Bullets | PA | 8-0 | 3-0 |
| 22 | Keene Owls | NH | 3-3 | 0-3 |
| 23 | Bridgewater Eagles | VA | 12-2 | 1-2 |
| 24 | Messiah Falcons | PA | 2-6 | 0-1 |
| 25 | Roanoke Maroons | VA | 10-2 | 3-1 |
| DROP | Alvernia Golden Wolves | PA | 4-2 | 2-2 |
| DROP | Coast Guard Bears | CT | ||
| DROP | Adrian Bulldogs | MI | ||
| DROP | Penn State Harrisburg Lions | PA |