Cole Jordan a Utah-connected ballplayer from the ‘certain fabric’ Ogden Raptors want
Raptors return Tuesday for a 6-game set against Northern Colorado
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- Ogden Raptors player Cole Jordan (3) celebrates in the dugout after scoring against Yuba-Sutter on Tuesday, May 27, 2025, at Lindquist Field in Ogden.
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- Ogden Raptors player Cole Jordan swings at a pitch on Tuesday, May 27, 2025, at Lindquist Field in Ogden.
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- Ogden Raptors outfielders Cole Jordan (3), Kenny Oyama (18) and Kyler Stancato (10) stand during the playing of the national anthem before a game Saturday, June 14, 2025, at Lindquist Field in Ogden.
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- Ogden Raptors player Cole Jordan connects with a pitch against Yuba-Sutter on Tuesday, May 27, 2025, at Lindquist Field in Ogden.
OGDEN — May 30 was a fun baseball day for Cole Jordan.
In Pioneer League action at Lindquist Field, the second-year Ogden Raptors player hit an RBI double during a seventh inning that tied things up with visiting Yuba-Sutter, then drew a two-out walk in the eighth that prolonged the inning and set up Connor Bagnieski with a run-scoring single to give the Raptors an 8-7 lead, and eventual win, during the team’s first homestand of the season.
Then Jordan got to the clubhouse quickly to watch his alma mater, Utah Valley, and its game in progress at No. 12 Oregon to open the Wolverines’ NCAA Tournament regional in Eugene.
“I caught the back half of that Oregon game, I had a bunch of guys watching it with me,” said Jordan, a 2024 UVU graduate.
One of those guys was former University of Utah ace Bryson Van Sickle.
“I was joking around with him and asking him when Utah plays, just messing around with him, and he got a good kick out of it. Good, friendly banter,” Jordan said.
They all got a kick out of watching UVU hold onto its early 4-0 lead for a 6-5 victory, the program’s first-ever NCAA Tournament win. The Wolverines would later lose to Arizona 14-4 and in 11 innings to Cal Poly to exit the action.
After two years at a junior college, Jordan played three seasons (2022-24) at Utah Valley. He hit .282 with 24 home runs, 24 doubles, 104 RBIs and 98 runs scored over 158 games.
“There’s not a better group of guys that I wanted to see go out there, win the WAC tournament and beat Oregon in Game 1,” Jordan said. “Nate Rasmussen was my infield coach, he’s from Salt Lake, so it was great to see him lead that team. It was just awesome.”
Jordan’s path to the Ogden Raptors is indicative of one manager Evan Parker says he wants to provide Utah natives or Utah collegians. With the 2024 season already underway, Jordan’s friend saw a social media post about a tryout. He called one of his college coaches, saying he’d be interested in playing in Ogden; his coach called Raptors team president Dave Baggott, and that led to an invitation to work out with the team.
Jordan suited up with the Raptors for pregame batting practice and infield-outfield. A few days later, Parker called and told Jordan he wanted to sign him and have him play in the team’s road trip to Grand Junction. Jordan had just driven home to California, but he drove right back to Ogden and bussed with the team to Colorado.
“This dude was just smashing the ball for a guy his size,” Parker said of Jordan’s workout. “Athletic kid, he was just parking the ball all over, goes deep a couple times. I put him in the field and asked where he felt comfortable … ran him through the reps, and had a great defensive showing, great instincts. I’m watching him take live reads off batting practice reps, and the dude’s just a ballplayer.”
Jordan’s been in the starting lineup almost every game since, totaling 68 games in 2024 and 25 of the team’s first 27 games in 2025 (midway through the team’s road series in Idaho Falls). Jordan is batting .324 with 70 RBIs and 82 runs scored, carrying a .410 on-base percentage in 93 professional games.
Parker praised Jordan’s baseball IQ and ability to lead on the field.
“I don’t want to write a lineup without him in it,” Parker said.
The ‘where he felt comfortable’ in the field was anywhere. His Baseball Reference logs list Jordan playing 96 times in the outfield and 81 (40 at second base, 40 at third base, one at shortstop) at Utah Valley (meaning he played infield and outfield in the same game in some instances).
He’s brought that to Ogden, hauling around three gloves while playing mostly infield in 2024 before largely posting up in left field in 2025 and being ready to play infield in spots when others need a day off.
“My claim to fame’s kind of been just to do everything,” Jordan said.
Parker is an Ogden native, Bonneville High alum and former draft pick out of Utah Tech (then Division II Dixie State) who wants to see other Utah-connected players get a taste of pro ball. It’s his second year as manager and fifth on staff. This year, Van Sickle and Cache County native Shawn Triplett joined Jordan as a Beehive State contingent.
“I’m in the position now that I’m the guy who can make those calls on giving these guys opportunities, and that’s really important to me,” Parker said. “There were times in my life when I felt like I was overlooked as a player because I was from Utah. … We’re playing cold weather, we don’t get 350 days of sunshine like other places, so those things can factor in when I’m looking at guys.
“We’re the only team in this league in Utah and I know the guys come from a certain fabric.”
Jordan and the Raptors continue the first half of Pioneer League play, returning home Tuesday to host a six-game series against the Northern Colorado Owlz in Ogden.
