Photo Courtesy of Dan L. Vander Beek Photography

Colton DeRocher, the starting right fielder for the Central College baseball team, is set to make his debut with the Louisville Slugger Warriors National Amputee Baseball Team on Saturday, July 22nd in Vermont.

The Louisville Slugger Warriors are a public charity organization and the only nationally sponsored amputee baseball team. They are a competitive team that consists of U.S. Military Veterans, Active Duty personnel, wounded warriors, and current and former amputee college baseball players.

DeRocher, who has a congenital birth defect on his left hand, has a .373 batting average in two seasons at Central, leading the program with 88 RBIs and 16 home runs in that span. His eight home runs in 2023 was second in the American Rivers Conference. He was also top-10 in the league for batting average (.388), doubles (21) and RBIs (38). The Warriors will play a doubleheader against an all-star team from the Green Mountain Baseball League, a post-collegiate league in Vermont. 

DeRocher was recruited to the team after facing Michael Cane of Vassar College (N.Y.), who had previously been on the Warriors, during Central’s spring break trip to Florida. DeRocher was 1-for-2 against Cane, hitting a two-run home run in a 10-8 Central loss.