When decision time arrives for high school baseball standouts, in many cases they can either choose to end their careers and attend a four-year college known for a great social culture in a happening town, or they can continue playing ball at a junior college miles from nowhere.

Taking the latter option doesn’t always work out so well, but it appears it did for three graduates of Lawrence high schools who attended Barton County Community College in Great Bend and then Emporia State University.

Marc Albers and Brett McBride of Lawrence High and Anthony Dreiling of Free State all were members of a Hornets team that made it all the way to the NCAA Div. II title game, losing to Lynn University, 2-1, May 30 in Cary, N.C.

“It was great,” Albers said of competing in the Div. II tournament. “The NCAA treated us really well. The atmosphere was awesome. The playing field was awesome, probably the best field I’d ever played on. Everything was top of the line. They chartered us there, and a bus was waiting for us at the airport.”

Albers returns to Emporia State for his senior year. Dreiling and McBride just finished their final seasons.

Albers didn’t have to think about his response when asked why he chose the junior-college path.

“Love of the game took me to Barton,” he said. “The whole camaraderie with the team, the whole aspect of becoming one unit. If I went to some other university just to go to school, I’d miss out on the team camaraderie, having those guys there for you.”

Albers witnessed many players for whom junior-college baseball didn’t work.

“For a lot of guys growing up, baseball’s kind of laid-back and not as intense as it is in juco,” he said. “There are a lot of practices and a lot of hours, and I was prepared to put in those hours. A lot of times guys go to juco because their parents want them to, and they aren’t as serious about the sport, and that leads them into not wanting to follow through with it after they see how tough it’s going to be.”

For Dreiling, social life wasn’t high on his list of priorities when choosing a school.

“Growing up in Lawrence, a college town, you get to see college life from the outside in,” Dreiling said. “Then you go to a junior college in the middle of nowhere, and it’s kind of a culture shock. But I didn’t really think of that (when making his choice). It was more just based on baseball.”

From there, he said, choosing Emporia State was a no-brainer.

“I liked the winning atmosphere, and I liked coach (Bob) Fornelli,” Dreiling said. “Every player I talked to loved him. Having the chance to compete for a national title sounded pretty exciting, and I did get that opportunity.”

As are so many recent college graduates, Dreiling is trying to negotiate his way through a murky job market, wondering if he will add to his degree in accounting with a Master of Business Administration. He took baseball as far as he could take it, all the way to the brink of a national title.

“I feel like the camaraderie with the guys helped the college experience,” he said. “I really wouldn’t want to have it any other way. If I had it to do over, I’d go the baseball route.”