Nickerson High School head baseball coach Deron McCue played baseball for the Hutchinson Blue Dragons back in 1982 and 1983. That led coach McCue to his first stop as a coach after college. 

“This will be my sixth year at Nickerson High School,” said McCue. “I got started in coach with the San Francisco Giants minor league organization in 1989 with the Pocatello Giants in Idaho before leaving for Everett, Washington in 1990 and the Clinton Lumberkings in Iowa in 1991.” 

As a student-athlete at Hutchinson College, McCue said he remembers how nice it was to be a student and play for a school with quality facilities. 

“It’s a pretty big JUCO, spread out with nice facilities,” said McCue. “It’s a good school to get started.” 

For McCue, he always thought he would end up at Hutchinson Community College as a high school player. Being from the area, it was a natural fit. 

“I didn’t think about recruiting too much, I just always thought I would go to Hutch being from here,” said McCue. 

McCue said for athletes today, staying on top of your grades and doing all the requirements it takes to become a collegiate athlete is important, especially if you want to have choices in where you spend the next two to four years in college. He added, “the best thing about going to Hutch was the people I met through JUCO from football and baseball.” 

Over the years, McCue said there were several coaches who he would call a mentor including coaches from high school and college.

“I’ve had a few mentors from guys like Dan Justice in high school to Dennis Shaver and Billy Hughes in JUCO. Also, Wendell Kim with the San Francisco Giants,” said McCue. 

McCue also had positive things to say about the current baseball program at Hutch.

“It’s a good program and coach Schmidt does a great job of getting them ready for the next step or level,” said McCue.