When the new school year begins in about five or six weeks, Sammy Rodenberg (second from right), stalwart catcher for the 2025 Class 4 state champion Chillicothe High School baseball Hornets will join teammate Koby Wagers and Wagers’ older brother Max in being part of the strong North Central Missouri College diamond program. Rodenberg signed with the Trenton-based Pirates March 4 after his classmate had been inked to a NCMC baseball scholarship late last fall. Rodenberg’s brick-wall backstopping and quick-snap throwing to control opposing baserunners was a critical factor in the Hornets’ unexpected march to the state title this past spring. In respect for his prowess, opponents attempted only 38 steals against the Hornets in 35 games and were cut down on nearly a quarter of those. Playing in all but one game, he picked off two others. An honorable-mention member of the all-league team in the always-strong Midland Empire Conference for the 2025 season, he noted at the time of his signing some three months before that joining NCMC “seems like a good way to extend my high school career a little further.” On hand for his signing ceremony in the CHS commons were his parents Gabe, right, and Keri and sister Lily, left. (PAUL STURM/C-T PHOTO)
