Final 2015 Top 25 JUCO teams

Junior College Top 25: May 20

The most significant shakeup in Perfect Game’s 2015 junior-college Top 25 has occurred in the final ranking of the season.

Northwest Florida State (42-13) took over the top spot by winning the Junior College World Series, beating McLennan (Texas) decisively in the deciding game 15-1 as outfielder Dakota Dean slugged his first two home runs of the season and drove in six runs. The Raiders, who won their first national title, entered the 10-team tournament ranked No. 6.

LSU-Eunice jumped from No. 10 to No. 2 by winning its fifth National Junior College Athletic Association Division II championship in nine years. The Bengals (49-10) had to beat Western Oklahoma State twice on the final day, 14-12 and 16-1, to secure the championship. In the first game, they actually trailed 10-1 at one point, before storming back on the strength of two home runs by David LaFleur, who hit six homers altogether in the 10-team tournament.

Both Northwest Florida State and LSU-Eunice jumped over California’s San Joaquin Delta to finish 1-2. Delta (41-6) had been ranked No. 1 almost the entire season on the strength of a 28-0 start, but fell 9-4 in the California Final Four championship game to previously-unranked Orange Coast College. The same two teams met in the championship game a year ago with OCC winning then as well to finish the season at No. 1. Orange Coast (30-17) moved to No. 11 with the win, while San Joaquin Delta slipped to No. 3.

Lower Columbia (41-10) captured the Northwest Athletic Conference championship to move from No. 18 to No. 10, while Tyler (Texas) won its final 16 games of the season to win its second straight NJCAA Division III national title and move into the rankings at No. 22.