It’s rare for three Division I-caliber baseball players to transfer from the same program in the same year—rarer still for all of them to land at the same school.

But for juniors Max Heineman (committed to UIC), Gavin Michaels (Cincinnati) and Gavin Swartz (Indiana), leaving U-High for Community wasn’t about what they walked away from. It was about what they were walking into.

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6-foot-2 Gavin Swartz plays infield, outfield and takes the mound for the Iron.

Sure, the Ironmen’s 33–4 season in 2024 helped make the case. But the decision ran deeper than a win-loss column. It was about belonging.

For Swartz, a right-handed pitcher, Community already felt familiar—it’s where many of his friends went.

“They talked very highly of the school,” Swartz said.

Michaels, an infielder whose three sisters attend Community, heard a similar message.

“I had heard a lot of great things,” he said.

And it wasn’t just talk.

“There’s something different about the atmosphere here,” Heineman said. Heineman, who plays catcher and outfield, said he feels more connected as an Ironman than he ever did as a Pioneer.

Even before classes began, the transfers got a firsthand look at that difference—watching the student section erupt after a last-second football win over Bradley-Bourbonnais, or rushing the court after Jaheem Webber’s buzzer-beating dunk against Quincy.

The energy, they said, was undeniable.

“Everyone here roots for each other,” Michaels said.

Swartz echoed that feeling of support.

“People were very welcoming,” he said.

That sense of camaraderie, paired with a program built on winning, made Community the right fit.

“Community is just filled with a bunch of winners,” Swartz said.

That message was clear on day one of the baseball season.

At the first baseball team meeting, head coach Mr. Ryan Short gathered his players in the east gym. There, he pointed to the banners hanging overhead—titles in football, in basketball, in track.

But not baseball.

Despite years of regular-season success, the Ironmen have yet to hang a state banner on the diamond.

“That’s what we’re going to do—hang a banner,” Michaels said.

The expectation is clear: win in May, win in June—and do it together.

“We’re building a tough team together. We’re doing hard things together. We’re ready to win,” Swartz said.

So far, Short said, the three transfers have been seamless additions.

“They look like Ironmen. They talk like Ironmen,” Short said. “They are Ironmen.”

And for Heineman, there’s no doubt about what comes next for the Iron.

“Win a state championship,” he said.

That’s not just the dream.

“That’s the expectation.”