When Bushnell Beacons senior catcher Nate Stevens signed with the college baseball powerhouse Arkansas Razorbacks after his senior year of high school in 2019, he did not expect the whiplash six years he was about to have.
The prime time spot with the Razorbacks didn’t work out, so Stevens turned his efforts to the middle of the United States at Johnson County Community College in Overland Park, KS. He then battled through an eventual COVID-19 canceled season, but still notched an NJCCAA All-Academic Third Team nod. After another solid year at JCCC, he packed his bags and headed west for another shot at division one, this time with the Washington State Cougars. It still wasn’t the time, though, as he only appeared in nine games his sophomore year before redshirting as a junior.
Another change was needed, and this time Stevens found his spot. He made the drive south to Eugene, OR, to play for the NAIA Bushnell Beacons. A knee surgery in 2024 piled on some bad luck, but in 2025, he found his groove, batting .330 in 38 games with 16 RBIs.
In 2026, he found the power.
In the Beacons’ third game of the season against the Simpson Red Hawks, Stevens nuked a two-run homer in the bottom of the fourth to make it a 7-2 game. The next game later that day, he did it again in the fourth, this time to make it a 6-2 game. Those two homers in four games already have surpassed his total from last season. “Steve worked really hard in the weight room,” Bushnell head coach Jamie Womack said. “I think he’s getting the confidence back to go be himself on a baseball field, which I think he lost somewhere along the journey a little bit. For him to finally have that back, I think it’s showing pretty evidently right now. He’s going to keep getting at-bats and hopefully keep doing what he’s doing.”
The early spark from Stevens contributed to a 3-1 series win against the Red Hawks on Friday and Saturday. This included a 16-14 loss in the first game, then 7-6, 13-4 and 11-4 wins to bounce back.
This is similar to the 3-1 start the Beacons had last year, also against Simpson. In the previous season, though, Bushnell stayed at home after that series all the way until Feb. 28. Now, they head right onto the road to Santa Clarita, CA, for a four-game set against The Master’s University Mustangs. Early road experience will be key for the Beacon crew, but traveling this early in the year, when guys aren’t even settled at home yet, is always a challenge.
“We struggled on the road last year,” Womack said. “I think we were 23-6 at home and maybe 9-12 on the road. I think part of it is that it took so long for us to get on the road. I think we got really comfortable at home, so to go early against a program like The Master’s, which is really good, it’ll be a good test for our guys. Give us a good chance to know where we’re at.”
Another difference compared to last year’s opening series is the pitching. The staff excelled against the Red Hawks last year, only giving up 10 runs in the series, including a 12-0 shutout in Game 3. This year, Bushnell tripled that by allowing a whopping 30 runs in four games. Despite the high total, the pitching did come around in the Saturday doubleheader by only letting in four in both games. This was headlined by solid work from the starters. In Game 3, sophomore righty Jacob Courtney went four innings with one earned run and six strikeouts.
In Game 4, senior lefty Kai Keamo went four innings of two-run baseball and four strikeouts.
“I thought Kai and Court were really competitive,” Womack said. “They both have really good stuff. Obviously, it’s early in the year, so we can’t let them too deep in the game yet, but I think it’s pretty clear that they’re going to be competitive all year for us. For both of them, it’s kind of a different journey to where they’re at. I’m really proud of both of them for how they got there.”
With the surging Stevens, an early road trip to get some toughness early on and decent performances from starting pitchers, Bushnell is geared up for another successful season with its own unique aspects as they look to improve from the 32-20 mark from last year.
The Beacons will start that series against the Mustangs on Friday, Feb. 6, at 11:00 a.m.