EMPORIA — Levi Ashmore and Nathan Whitcomb are competitors.
That is why Emporia State baseball coach Bob Fornelli loves his two seniors so much, but that is also why there was no love lost between the two Hornets during their high school days.
Whitcomb, a former Humboldt Cub star, and Ashmore, a former Iola Mustang standout, remember the only sport in which the two schools would compete was baseball and that made the games an intense affair all the way around.
“We weren’t really the best of friends in high school,” Whitcomb said. “We went at it.”
The two bitter rivals began their college careers in the same capacity with Whitcomb at Neosho County Community College and Ashmore at Allen Community College, but that dynamic began to shift when the two became teammates at Neosho after Ashmore transferred there his sophomore year.
After a year in Chanute, the two weren’t ready to stop being teammates and they each decided to continue their careers at Emporia State, where not only did they share the field, but they also share living accommodations as they moved in together.
The pairing’s playing-careers for the Hornets began very differently.
Ashmore became an instant starter and ended up earning All-MIAA honors by batting nearly .300 and hitting seven home runs.
His now-friend and teammate didn’t experience the same success. Whitcomb only appeared in 12 games and finished with an ERA approaching four.
The Hornets finished 39-19 overall last season and took second in the MIAA, but going into their senior seasons, the two Allen County products wanted more for their last hurrah together.
With Whitcomb and Ashmore leading the way, the Hornets made their jump this season.
Despite Tuesday’s 4-1 loss to Missouri Western, Emporia State still holds a comfortable lead atop the MIAA standings and hold a 19-5 record overall and 8-2 mark in league play. They are currently the eighth-ranked team in the country.
“We’ve been playing hard and it shows,” Ashmore said. “We’ve been winning a lot of games and we want to continue to… If we continue to do all of that, we have a good chance to win the conference, go to the regional and do all that fun stuff. It will be a fun way to end my baseball career.”
Whitcomb has stepped into the closer’s role this season a been able to put last season’s struggles in the rear-view mirror.
“Last year, I had a pretty bad year so I came back with the mind-set to be as good as I can and help us win in anyway I can,” Whitcomb said.
The former Cub has 11 appearances this season and is 12th in the nation with five saves. He has only allowed one run in over 14 innings of work.
