THUNDER BAY – Thunder Bay Border Cats manager J.M. Kelly has landed a new gig.
The second-year skipper on Wednesday confirmed he’s been hired as the head coach at Dodge City Community College, a Division 1 junior college in Kansas.
Kelly said he hopes to stay with the first-place Border Cats for as long as possible this summer, but the timeline will depend on his new school.
“I don’t know what we’re going to do yet,” Kelly said. “My wife and I are going to go on a vacation to Alaska over the all-star break and we’re going to flyfish and we’re going to enjoy that. We’ll just have to figure out when we’re going to get up (to Dodge City), when we’re going to move our stuff out and get into the new place.
“I’ll stay up here for as long as I can, though.”
Kelly, whose team narrowly missed winning the first-half title in the Great Plains East Division, has led the Northwoods league club into sole possession of top spot in the division in the second half, taking a one-game lead over Rochester on Wednesday with a 4-1 win at Port Arthur Stadium.
Kelly’s team is 29-21 overall, the top record in the Great Plains East in 2024.
It’s a step up in his baseball career, the Texas native said.
“The school I was at was a Division 2 junior college. This is a Division 1 junior college, probably the most competitive junior college in the country when it comes to pretty much all of its athletics – football, basketball, baseball,” Kelly said.
His time with the Cats was a big part of his development, and it never hurts to bring a winning record to a job interview.
“Winning helps,” Kelly said.
“But here’s the thing, and what’s awesome about it, it’s these kids when they come to you and tell you that this is the best summer they’ve ever had and that they want to come back next summer. That’s what makes it fun. Obviously, you want to impress athletic directors, you want to impress presidents, but at the end of the day you can impress those people all you want to. If the kids don’t like you, then you’re not doing your job right.”
Kelly lands at Dodge City after leading East Central College, located in Union, Mo. to a 37-21 record, the most wins in school history, and being named the Missouri Community College Athletic Conference Coach of the Year.
Prior to that he was an assistant coach at Texas A&M-Kingsville.
With the Cats in contention, he’s hopeful he can stay in Thunder Bay as long as possible.
“Heck yeah. Obviously, you’re winning and you’ve got a shot to win. You hope the kids will stick around and see it through. It’s hard, because they’ve got to get back to school as well. But again, we’re going to continue to build the roster … and we’re going to keep plugging away at it as long as we can.”
