Admiral King's JT Feldkamp, a sophomore, just finished his first full college season as a full-time catcher at Ohio Dominican in grand fashion at Thurman Munson Stadium in Canton, Ohio last Wednesday.

Despite losing a heartbreaking 13-12 extra-inning game to Rio Grande to get eliminated from the American Mideast Conference Tournament, Feldkamp went 4-for-6 with three RBIs, including an RBI single and a two-run home run in a Panther eight-run sixth inning. The homer was Feldkamp's sixth of the season, good for second most on the team.

"We lost an All-American at catcher so I had to step in and catch," said Feldkamp said. "I think I did pretty good, but I think I could've done better. I just want to improve and get better for next year."

He finished with a .316 batting average in 49 games played, including 45 starts behind the plate. He also hit seven doubles, one triple and tallied 26 RBIs.

"College is a lot different than high school," Feldkamp said. "Mostly the speed the pitchers are pitching is the biggest thing ... When you get in a slump, you just gotta know you can get through it. In high school I never really got into a slump. This year facing better pitching, sometimes you start slumping, you just gotta not worry about it."

The Panthers finished the season 31-21 overall and 20-10 in the AMC, good for second place.

"Our season overall was good, but it was kind of disappointing," Feldkamp said. "We didn't win the conference or the conference tournament and that was the first time in five years. I think we should be pretty good next year, we're really young. We didn't have a single senior in the field graduate, so I think we will improve a lot."

Feldkamp is playing for the Ohio Titans this summer, along with Southview graduate Cameron Castro (Lake Erie College).

swalker@MorningJournal.com