BELLEVUE, Neb. -- Bellevue University baseball coach Duane Monlux announced today the signing of McKinley O'Connor (Panaca, Nev./Antelope Valley College) to a Letter of Intent to continue his academic and athletic careers at BU beginning in the fall.
O'Connor, a 6-0 catcher, comes to the Bruins from Antelope Valley College where he started all 24 games behind the dish for the Marauders, earning first team Western State Conference honors.
O'Connor immediately burst onto the scene for AVC, grabbing the starting job and never relinquishing it. As a freshman he hit .326 with a .930 OPS while recording a team-high 16 extra-base hits and driving in 17 runs, good for second on the club. Defensively, he managed the run game well, nabbing 11 of 39 would-be base stealers.
Coach Monlux on O'Connor:
"McKinley was one of our first signings for the year. We are very pumped that he is going to be Bruin. He has four years of eligibility left, and we expect big thing from him. He had a very good season as a freshman at Antelope Valley College, earning 1st team All-Western State Conference behind the plate. He is a left handed hitting catcher that can hit for average and also has some power. We feel his best days are still ahead of him."
O'Connor joins earlier signees Blake Crippen (LHP, Hillsboro, Ore./Lane CC), Alec Ackerman (IF, Parker, Colo./San Jose State), Kanta Kobayashi (OF, Tokyo, Japan/Gonzaga), and Alex Stufft (Temecula, Calif./Westmont) in the Bruins' 2021 signing class.
Bellevue finished the year at 41-18, won the NSAA Regular-Season title, and reached the NAIA National Tournament for the 23rd time in program history. It was their eighth 40-win campaign in the last nine full seasons of competition.
Antelope Valley College Stats:
| Season | GP | AVG | OBP | SLG | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | Runs | SB |
| 2021 (Fr.) | 24 | .326 | .354 | .576 | 12 | 1 | 3 | 17 | 16 | 0-0 |
| Totals | 24 | .326 | .354 | .576 | 12 | 1 | 3 | 17 | 16 | 0-0 |
