OAK CREEK, Wis. — Milwaukee Area Technical College baseball is proud to announce that sophomore right‑hander Jakeb Lequia has signed with Western Illinois University, where he will continue his academic and baseball career at the NCAA Division I level. The 5‑foot‑11 Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, native fulfills a longtime goal as he moves from the NJCAA to the Ohio Valley Conference, joining a Leathernecks program that finished 17–36 last season.

Lequia delivered one of Region 4's most durable and strikeout‑driven seasons this past spring. He threw 57.2 innings across 12 starts and carried the heaviest workload on the Stormers' staff. He finished with 71 strikeouts across 295 batters faced, tying him for third in all of Region 4 alongside Kankakee's Clay Gadbois and Morton College's Will Lewis. That total also stands as the second‑highest single‑season mark in MATC history behind Adam Tollefson's 98 in 2006. Opponents hit .276 against him over 250 at‑bats, yet he kept generating swing‑and‑miss outings that routinely kept MATC in games. He worked around 69 hits and 39 walks while allowing only one homer, finishing with a 4–4 record and a 4.99 ERA. Each time he took the mound, he attacked hitters, pushed deep into outings and gave the Stormers a chance to win.

"Being able to put in the insane amount of hours each and every day, then getting rewarded with this opportunity is just a blessing in its own right from the man above!" Lequia said of his commitment to WIU. "I am super excited and blessed to see what the lord has in store for me these next few years!" 

Lequia's sophomore campaign capped a strong two‑year run with MATC. He earned six wins across 94.2 innings and struck out 102 batters, starting 19 games — including 12 this spring as the staff ace. His presence helped the Stormers post a 58–55 record over the past two seasons, including a 32–20 mark at home. His workload, strikeout production and ability to handle high‑leverage innings made him one of the program's most reliable arms in recent memory.

MATC head coach Caleb Bounds praised Lequia's impact on the program. 

"Jake was a huge reason for our success over the past two seasons," Bounds said. "We are extremely proud of him for getting the Division I offer he wanted. He was a captain of our program and we are excited to watch him continue his career at Western Illinois."

With his MATC career complete and a season as the Stormers' ace behind him, Lequia now brings his experience, competitiveness and steady presence on the mound to Western Illinois as he begins the next chapter of his collegiate journey