Lisi transfers to Central Missouri

Former Crowder College pitcher Don Lisi is taking his talented pitching to Central Missouri University this school year.

Lisi, after spending a year at Oklahoma State, decided to transfer to the Division II powerhouse in Warrensburg. Lisi just finished pitching for the Wisconsin Woodchucks in the Northwoods League this summer.

Looking at his numbers from two years at Crowder, this spring at Oklahoma State and this summer, Lisi has lost only eight games in four seasons. In that same span, he has racked up 23 wins. In two years at Crowder (2008-2009), he was 16-6 overall and then went 1-0 this spring at OSU.

His most recent team, the Woodchucks, were 41-28 going into Monday’s season finale and Lisi played a part in his team’s success. He was tied for the team lead in wins and sported a 5-2 mark with a 2.88 ERA before having to leave to get to Warrensburg for the start of school. In 68 2/3 innings for the Woodchucks, he struck out 55.

“It was fun, definitely one of the best experiences I’ve had as a ball player,” Lisi said of playing in Wisconsin. “All the teams are evenly matched. There is not one team that you think ‘these guys shouldn’t even be in the same park.’ All of them had good teams and you had to go out everyday and face a good challenge. That is something you want as a ball player.”

Lisi leaves Stillwater after a year, but found a nice place to land at UCM, a team that is consistently a national power. Last year, the Mules finished ranked No. 4 in the Division II polls and were 52-11.

Current coach Tom Myers was an assistant for the team when UCM won the Division II title – which ironically had former Crowder pitcher Danny Powers as the ace of the staff.

“For one reason or another things at Oklahoma State didn’t work out,” Lisi said. “I wanted to go where I could win a national championship and Coach Myers told me his philosophy and I liked the whole staff. They have a good group of guys and I want to win a national championship and this is the best place to do it.”

Rogers State – where former teammate Matt Sample pitches – and Emporia State joined UCM in recruiting Lisi this time around after his release from Oklahoma State.

The Mules showed interest while he was at Crowder, but backed off after he signed with Oklahoma State during the early signing period as a sophomore.

“It was pretty cut and dry as to where I wanted to go, Central Missouri was a good fit,” Lisi said. “A lot of things fell into place too. Lally (Crowder coach Travis Lallemand) talked to them and Kyle Zimmerman (a former teammate at Crowder) had his summer coach talked to Central Missouri because he (Jud Kindle) is friends with an assistant coach at there. And Central knew I was getting my release from Oklahoma State.”

Lisi is a 6-foot-2, 186-pound pitcher from Rogers, Ark. He is armed with a fastball that sits in the high 80s and occasionally tops the 90s. He can add in a slider and change up to his arsenal.

The 21-year-old – the son of Rick and Becky Lisi – will be a general studies major at UCM, but plans to get his master’s degree in sports administration. His hopes are to follow in the footsteps of his father, Rick, and play professional baseball.

His father played minor league baseball for the Rangers and was teammates of former major league manager Mike Hargrove, who was Lisi’s summer coach last year for the Liberal BeeJays.

Along with his senior year of college in the works, Lisi will also be getting married next year.

He intends to wed former Crowder basketball player Alison Walls in October of 2011.