“Let’s get weird,” Keaton Candor told his teammates as they would stride towards the dugout between innings during action at the opening round of the 2022 NAIA Baseball National Championship. It was in those tense moments that Candor provided a calming, humorous presence. Perhaps that’s one of the reasons why Concordia Baseball was at its best when its back was against the wall.
Prior to games, Candor would often take swigs from a bottle of Mountain Dew, and then go out and crush baseballs. There was something different about the smalltown Iowan. He wasn’t trying to train for the Olympics. He’s a ballplayer – one that played better when he was relaxed, caffeinated and telling jokes.
“My sophomore year I tried to do the serious guy thing and take everything serious,” Candor said. “I just didn’t have a good year. Junior year I came back and I just wanted to be myself. At times I probably got a little carried away. I don’t know how happy Coach (Ryan) Dupic was when I’d crack a joke in a serious situation. I think a lot of guys kind of needed that just to remember that you can have fun in tough situations.”
The Mountain Dew became a superstition for the native of Merrill, Iowa, and former standout at Le Mars Community High School. Out of the home of Blue Bunny Ice Cream came a stout, power-hitting outfielder who would go on to help transform Concordia Baseball. This past May, Candor reached the finish line on a five-year Bulldog career that saw him rise to the top of the program’s all-time record book for games played (223), runs scored (170), home runs (47), RBIs (188) and walks (108). He also became just the third player in school history to reach 200 career hits.
There may have been a few in-game moments when Dupic rolled his eyes after Candor opened his mouth, but the Bulldog skipper likely laughed about it later. There was no reason to mess with an approach that worked. Keaton became a beloved figure within the dugout – and it wasn’t about the school records. He was a personality that helped define the togetherness of the program.
Wrote Dupic as part of this past season’s senior day recognition, “Keaton is one of the best hitters in the history of the program. He has been very consistent during his time here at Concordia and has been one of the most feared hitters in the league over the last few years. While his accomplishments are many, I’ll remember Keaton much more for his infectious personality, his sense of humor and the way he brings people together. I’m proud of Keaton and the man he has become.”
The growth he experienced personally translated to the field. The sophomore season of 2019 that Candor referenced ended with him batting .225. It wasn’t all bad though, as he contributed eight home runs and an .831 OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage). However, it still fell below the expectations he had for himself. Then in 2020, Candor appeared on his way to a monster year when he was batting .400 with five home runs at the point the season was shut down by COVID-19.
Candor really hit it big over his final two seasons while being named First Team All-GPAC in 2021 and Second Team All-GPAC in 2022. There was no official opening round MVP award in 2021, but if there had been, it surely would have gone to Candor. During the five games played at that year’s Bellevue Bracket, Candor went 8-for-23 (.348) with four doubles, three home runs and eight RBIs.
The son of Buena Vista University Hall of Fame athlete Todd Candor, Keaton first began thinking about Concordia when he attended a camp at North Iowa Area Community College (NIACC) in Mason City, Iowa. That’s where Keaton, a junior in high school at the time, first talked extensively with former Bulldog assistant coach Bryce Berg. There was also the natural connection considering Keaton’s older brother Kendall had played at Buena Vista when Dupic had served as the top assistant for the Beavers.
Recalls Keaton, “My dad had said, it’s probably going to be a pretty good program now that Dupic’s there, and he was right. My first impression (of Concordia) was mainly about how committed the coaching staff was and still is as far as connecting with players. That’s always been one of their big emphases. Every Wednesday Bryce would give me a call and just check in. Then when I came on a visit, it was super awesome.”
Berg took the lead on recruiting Candor at a time when Dupic was in the process of triumphing over cancer that had weakened him during the 2017 GPAC championship season. Candor recalls how Dupic was up front about his situation and how it would briefly limit the contact that Dupic would be able to have with prospective recruits or current players.
It didn’t take long for Candor to see that the program was trending in the right direction. He had a chance to be part of something special. Along the journey that took Candor and the Bulldogs to Lewiston, Idaho, for the 2021 NAIA World Series and then to within one game of getting back there in 2022, lessons were learned. Friendships grew tighter. All reasonable expectations for Concordia Baseball had been blown away.
“When I came in it was right after they won their first conference championship,” Candor said. “Obviously we didn’t follow it up the next year. We didn’t do as well as we wanted. That kind of made me realize it’s not going to be easy to stay on top. Every year we wanted to push it farther. I remember sophomore and junior year we were saying, we’ve proven that we can win the conference. One of the goals we had then was to try to win more than one game at regionals. We didn’t just say, ‘We’re going to the World Series.’ That was always the big picture, but there were a lot of small goals that I don’t think people think about when you’re building up to that.”
For Candor personally, it just took a little fuel from a certain carbonated soft drink, a lot of work in the cages with Berg and current hitting coach Caleb Lang and the right attitude adjustment. When Candor belted Concordia’s fourth homer of the fifth inning in the recent 16-2 stunning blowout win over sixth-ranked Bellevue at the national tournament, he was greeted appropriately by his teammates. A 12-pack of Mountain Dew was the prize after Candor touched home plate.
“I’ve always liked Mountain Dew, I’m not going to lie,” Candor said. “I remember being a kid trying to sneak a couple past my parents when they thought I had enough. I don’t know why, but I kind of have a little bit of a superstition. If I didn’t have one, I felt like I was going to have a bad game. I enjoyed having that around. It took on a life of its own. I remember Evan Bohman, another fellow Mountain Dew enthusiast, brought a little life to it. The guys really liked it. It was something fun that everyone could share in.”
That moment back in May exemplified how Candor and his teammates have shared in each other’s joy. It means something to be part of the Bulldog Baseball family. The players are something close to rock stars in the eyes of Coach Dupic’s sons, Cole and Cody. Before almost every at bat over the past couple of years, Keaton and Cole would bump fists. Keaton and his teammates always had time for Cole. That’s just who they are.
It will be strange in 2023 not to see Candor holding down a spot in the outfield and in the middle of the lineup. Concordia and baseball will always be a part of him. This summer, Candor has coached the Waverly High School freshman reserves. Just a couple months after his final Concordia game, Candor tried to put into words what the last five years have meant to him. No doubt the bat he received from the program in commemoration of his 200th career hit will always be a cherished item.
Says Candor, “I’m extremely grateful for the opportunity and all the different coaches who have come along the way and helped push this program forward. I think the program is in really good hands with Coach Dupic and Coach Lang and anybody else they bring in. The school as a whole is really special with the emphasis on both athletics and academics. You have professors talking to you about the game that you had. Them being engaged with it makes it even a little more special.”