When a player gets an opportunity to continue his or her athletic career on at the collegiate level, the accomplishment of doing such a thing is, in short, special.

However, when an athlete is chosen as one of a select few to represent an entire country in the sport, that feat is elevated to an entirely different meaning in and of itself.

Shawnee State junior pitcher Zane Hendrickx, a incoming junior from Belgium who transferred to Shawnee State for the final two seasons of his college baseball career after completing two seasons at Western Nebraska Community College, will get that very opportunity this month -- when Hendrickx suits up for the Belgian National Team as one of 24 players selected to represent the unit at the 2025 European Baseball Championship.

Belgium, who is slotted in Group D as part of pool play, will get to host Austria, Croatia and Hungary in Antwerp, Belgium during pool play action, which runs from Sept. 20 to Sept. 24. The top 12 teams (the top three from each pool) advance to the final site of the 2025 European Baseball Championships, which will be held in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

For Hendrickx, the opportunity is certainly one that he isn't going to miss out on -- and the junior right-handed pitcher certainly considers himself blessed to be part of a program that is as understanding about what he is going after as the Shawnee State baseball program is.

"Being a part of the Shawnee State baseball program is huge," Hendrickx said. "I really love the culture of this team and the culture within the coaching staff and my teammates. We work hard, we all love to compete, we're all gamers, we're hard workers, and as a result of all of that, we're all ready to play. I consider myself blessed to be a part of this team and to be around a great group of guys."
Despite the love for soccer in Belgium and all across the continent of Europe, Hendrickx, who started playing baseball at the age of four, took a different path. Considering his family grew up playing the sport across multiple generations, it seemed only natural for Hendrickx to take up the same game.

"My Dad played baseball and my Mom played softball, and my grandparents also played baseball and softball," Hendrickx said. "Baseball's not really a big sport in Europe. It's on the comeup, but soccer's really the biggest sport there. I just gravitated to the sport at the age of four, and from there, I just loved it."
Hendrickx's game ultimately grew to a point where the Belgian native was able to have options from a collegiate standpoint. Talented and with a large, projectable frame at 6-4, the righty got an opportunity to play collegiate baseball at the NJCAA (National Junior College Athletic Association) Division I ranks, where Hendrickx suited up for Western Nebraska Community College in both the 2024 and 2025 seasons.

In 52-and-a-third innings, Hendrickx struck out 43 batters -- and, as a freshman, went 4-1 on the bump in his 13 official appearances. A native of Hoboken in the Belgian state of Antwerp, Hendrickx made 24 official appearances for Western Nebraska in two seasons of work at the highest level of junior college baseball one can play in the United States.

Based on his own intel and research, the 6-4 junior felt like the opportunities to compete for goals that were bigger than himself were certainly possible at SSU.

"This summer, when I was talking to our coaches, I got a great vibe from them, and everything I saw was really nice," Hendrickx said. "I learned about Shawnee State more this summer as I was looking to continue my collegiate beyond the junior college level, and I just fell in love with it. It's been a blessing to be a part of this team, to be a part of this school, and to represent Shawnee State itself," Hendrickx said. "I'm beyond blessed and really happy to be here."
Adding to the significance of the international opportunities that lay in front of him, Hendrickx will get to represent his country against others across Europe while playing much closer to home than most. With Belgium hosting group play in Antwerp, Hendrickx will be competing just 20 minutes across town -- as Hendrickx, who is from the Antwerp suburb of Hoboken which borders the Scheldt River, will compete in Borgerhout, an eastern Antwerp suburb. The home field of the Borgerhout Squirrels, a baseball club in Borgerhout, will be hosting Belgium and the remaining Group D teams.

Belgium is ranked 33rd in the world in the sport of baseball, but second among teams in its pool in that ranking only behind Austria, who is ranked 29th worldwide. Croatia (37th) and Hungary (43rd) round out the rankings of the teams in the pool.

This puts the Belgian National Team in an excellent position -- if it handles business in its pool -- to finish either first or second in its pool. If the Belgian National Team does so, it would qualify for the 2025 European Baseball Championship's final site at  Neptunus Ballpark in Rotterdam, Netherlands -- just over an hour and 30 minutes away from Hendrickx's hometown.

"It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," Hendrickx said. "I'm really grateful to represent my home country. It's a dream come true. Every athlete dreams about playing for the national team. I'm really, really blessed to be a part of it. I'm so thankful."
If the opportunity to compete at the 2025 European Baseball Championship final site arises, Hendrickx and the Belgian National Team would play against either the third or fourth-place Group A pool squad in a crossover playoff game, which would pit Belgium up against one of either the Czech Republic, Spain, Germany or Sweden on Wednesday, Sept. 24.

With a win in that contest, the Belgian National Team would then be able to reach the quarterfinals of the 2025 European Baseball Championship, where Belgium would then play either the No. 1 or No. 2 team in the Group B pool, which would be either France, Great Britain, Israel or The Netherlands on Thursday, Sept. 25.

A win at that stage would seal the opportunity for Belgium to at least compete for no worse than a bronze medal -- as with wins all the way up to that stage, Belgium would play in a semifinal contest Friday, Sept. 26. A win in the semifinal round would clinch a 2025 European Baseball Championship Game berth and no worse than a silver medal, but potentially a gold, on Saturday, Sept. 27, while a loss in the semifinal round still means that the Belgian National Team can play for a bronze medal -- and accomplish that feat with a win.

According to Hendrickx, his fellow teammates certainly are bought into the process and believe in their ability to compete with the best of the best throughout the continent of Europe.