WINONA LAKE – Playing baseball together in high school was only natural because they all grew up in Warsaw. Ending up on the diamond together for the Grace College Lancers, however, isn't something Jordan Kistler, Jeff Himes or Jacob Bloom expected. "It was a random series of events that brought us here," said Kistler. "I've known Jeff and Jacob for a long time. We played travel ball together, played together in high school. Jeff and I were in diapers together. We've been friends forever, but I didn't expect to end up at Grace, or to play with them again." Kistler, a pitcher, and Himes, an outfielder, graduated from Warsaw Community High School – where they played for coach Mike Hepler's Tigers – in 2008, while Bloom, also an outfielder, graduated in 2009. After graduation, Kistler and Himes took different paths, as did Bloom a year later. Kistler went to Iowa Western Community College, where he was part of the JuCo World Series championship team. Kistler's stock was at a high, and the former WCHS Tiger had his sights set on playing Division I baseball. Kistler signed with St. Louis University, but a scholarship blunder – he thought he was getting a lot more of his expenses paid for than he was – left him without a team a week before school started. Kistler remembered a conversation he had with Grace's coaching staff at the Baseball Player's Association Convention on the Winona Lake Campus. Kistler was told that if he was ever in a bind, he could always come home and play. So that's what he did. "It's nice to come back and see people that you know, and play with people that you know," said Kistler. Kistler has made six appearances for the Lancers this season, pitching 19-1/3 innings. He has a 2-2 record with a 2.79 ERA. Kistler, a junior, has been bit by the injury bug again and will have surgery this week on his shoulder. While he was a senior at WCHS, Himes, a redshirt sophomore for the Lancers, wanted to attend Sinclair Community College. He had all but written Grace off. A visit to his hometown campus, however, and Himes ended up committing to the Lancers. "When I was growin up, I didn't want to play college baseball in my hometown," said Himes. "I had a different idea of what college baseball was, but now, being in my hometown, I love the atmosphere here and I love being able to play again with people I've been friends with forever." Himes has appeared in 35 games for Grace this season and is batting .294. After graduating from WCHS in 2009, Bloom intended on walking on to the baseball team at the University of Indianapolis. After changing his mind, Bloom began exploring other options, and he wound up coming home and committing to the Lancers. "It wasn't something we planned, but here we all are at Grace," said Bloom. "I get to play with Jeff and Jordan again, and we're playing in our hometown, we're near our families. It's not how we planned things, but it's how it worked out." Bloom has played in 42 games for the Lancers this season and has hit five doubles, a triple, two home runs and is batting .325. Head coach Josh Bailey is in his fourth season with the Lancers. The team won three games his first year, 10 the next season and a school-record last 21 games last year. Bailey is trying to turning the Grace baseball program into on that can contend for the Mid-Central College Conference championship year in and year out. Doing that with local talent is icing on the cake. "We have 25 guys from within a half-hour of here," said Bailey, whose team has won 16 games so far this season. "We're trying to build a program to contend in the MCC. There's talented baseball players here in the area, and we want them to know that they can come here and play in their hometown."
