WATSONVILLE — Watsonville baseball talent Joseph “JoJo” Keldsen committed to NCAA Division I Southeast Missouri State University on Monday.
The 6-foot-4, 215-pound right-handed pitcher/infielder — who helped lead Monte Vista Christian School to the Central Coast Section Division-VI and CIF D-V NorCal Region titles as a junior in 2022 — is a sophomore at Monterey Peninsula College.
“When I was first offered, I was pretty excited,” Keldsen said. “When it happened, I tried to play to play it cool. But, when I was signing the papers it hit me, ‘This is real. This what you’ve been working your whole life for.’ It was kinda mind-blowing.”
Keldsen, the Pacific Coast Athletic League’s Mission Division MVP in ’23, played his freshman season at D-II Stanislaus State University.
He got off to a good start for the Warriors in Turlock as a freshman, but hit a rough patch and saw his playing time reduced. At the end of the season, he yearned to improve and knew the only way that was going to happen was through playing time, so he informed his coaches that he was going to transfer to a community college.
Just ahead of this season, former MPC player Michael Mugan, now a senior outfielder at SEMO, called Keldsen to see if he was available to throw against him at Sollecito Park in Monterey to prepare for the season. Keldsen agreed, and shined during their session. So much so, Mugan told Keldsen that he was going to tell Redhawks coach Andy Sawyers to recruit him.
It wasn’t just talk. Weeks later, Sawyers reached out to MPC coach Daniel Phillips and he has tracked Keldsen’s performances since.
“We were glad to help JoJo out at Monterey Peninsula College,” Phillips said. “He is a standout student-athlete at the junior college level and deserves this opportunity to play at the D-I level. He was awarded Academic All-State for his work in the classroom and this allowed him to be eligible to transfer off to the D-I level. On the baseball field, he’s an extremely dedicated athlete. He was excited to learn and be coached from the first day of practice. He has worked extremely hard in the weight room, and he is an outstanding teammate.”
Keldsen has continued to improve on the mound as the season has progressed and was offered a scholarship a few weeks back.
After consulting with Mugan and Phillips, Keldsen committed to SEMO without stepping foot on campus.
“It’s a small city, a baseball town, a small community,” Keldsen said. “It’s all about sports there. They like to develop JUCO guys, and that fits with my goal of getting better.”
Keldsen, whose two-seam fastball was topping out in the 88-89 mph range in high school, worked out and trained hard over the summer and has seen his velo climb to 91. He also throws a changeup, slider, and curve.
He’s 2-3 with one save this season and holds a 3.45 ERA and 1.20 WHIP over 44 1/3 innings for the Lobos (13-13, 1-6), who are tied for fifth place in the Coast Conference South Division.
SEMO is 14-11 overall, 1-2 in the Ohio Valley Conference.
Keldsen, an aspiring fireman, says he’s undecided on a major at SEMO since it doesn’t have a fire science program. He said he’ll likely major in communications or business.
Knapp commits: Cabrillo sophomore Oscar Knapp, a 6-3, 205-pound left-handed pitcher and designated hitter, announced on social media that he has committed to D-II Biola University, a faith-based college in La Mirada.
Knapp, a Santa Cruz High alum who was named the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League’s co-Player of the Year in 2023, is batting .308 (24 for 78) for the Seahawks (10-16, 3-4), who are tied for third place in the Coast Conference South Division.
He helped the Seahawks reach the 2024 3C2A Baseball Super Regional final as a freshman.
“I am blessed to announce my commitment to Biola University, ” Knapp posted on X. “I would like to thank God for providing me with this opportunity. I would also like to thank the entire coaching staff at Cabrillo, Rossy’s Training, and Josh Nashed for their combined roles in my development/recruitment.”
Biola is 13-14, 10-10 in the PacWest Conference under third-year head coach Jesse Rodgers.
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