Pictured: Patrick Weigel of No. 5 Oxnard (Calif.)
Oklahoma’s
Connors State moved to the top of Perfect Game’s ranking of the
nation’s Top 25 junior-college teams two weeks ago, and has only
widened its lead over No. 2-ranked Chipola (Fla.) with its inspired
play over the last month. The Cowboys, 32-4 on the season, have won
20 of their last 21 games.
With
a .356 team batting average and cumulative 2.49 ERA, Connors State is
getting contributions on both sides of the ball, but the one player
who has clearly been a difference-maker for the Cowboys is Puerto
Rican-bred third baseman Yariel Gonzalez, who has followed up a
sizzling freshman season with an even better sophomore campaign.
To
date, Gonzalez is hitting .519, second in the nation, with five
homers and 49 RBIs (third nationally). He also tops the Cowboys in
runs (50) and stolen bases (7).
“He
is really a special player,” said Cowboys coach Perry Keith, who
recently won his 1,400th game in his 29th year
at Connors State. “He’s a switch hitter with gap power from both
sides, and can really hit. He also has great hands with an average
arm at third base, and can play second base just fine if we needed to
play him there. I think he could go in the first 10 rounds in the
draft.”
Perfect Game Top 25 Junior College Teams - April 8
| RK |
Prev. |
Team |
ST |
Overall |
Conference |
| 1 |
1 |
Connors State |
OK |
32-4 |
4-0 |
| 2 |
2 |
Chipola |
FL |
29-8 |
8-3 |
| 3 |
4 |
Alvin |
TX |
32-8 |
23-5 |
| 4 |
5 |
Grayson |
TX |
28-10 |
16-4 |
| 5 |
14 |
Oxnard |
CA |
22-5 |
12-3 |
| 6 |
10 |
Chattahoochee Valley |
AL |
29-7 |
11-2 |
| 7 |
25 |
Gulf Coast State |
FL |
32-8 |
9-2 |
| 8 |
3 |
Walters State |
TN |
32-10 |
16-4 |
| 9 |
18 |
Georgia Perimeter |
GA |
30-8 |
19-1 |
| 10 |
8 |
San Joaquin Delta |
CA |
21-6 |
8-4 |
| 11 |
6 |
LSU-Eunice |
LA |
27-7 |
0-0 |
| 12 |
11 |
Spartanburg Methodist |
SC |
28-9 |
13-5 |
| 13 |
13 |
Crowder |
MO |
29-9 |
13-3 |
| 14 |
15 |
Central Arizona |
AZ |
33-10 |
19-7 |
| 15 |
9 |
Howard |
TX |
27-9 |
12-8 |
| 16 |
NR |
Salt Lake |
UT |
27-11 |
15-5 |
| 17 |
7 |
Orange Coast |
CA |
21-9 |
9-7 |
| 18 |
12 |
Tallahassee |
FL |
33-11 |
5-6 |
| 19 |
NR |
Chabot |
CA |
20-6 |
14-1 |
| 20 |
24 |
Neosho County |
KS |
31-9 |
17-7 |
| 21 |
NR |
St. Johns River State |
FL |
28-12 |
11-4 |
| 22 |
NR |
Middle Georgia |
GA |
28-8 |
15-5 |
| 23 |
NR |
Feather River |
CA |
22-6 |
14-3 |
| 24 |
NR |
Columbia State |
TN |
28-9 |
18-3 |
| 25 |
NR |
South Mountain |
AZ |
28-14 |
19-7 |
DROPPED OUT: No. 16 Nortrhwest Florida State (23-13, 5-6); No. 17 Fullerton, Calif. (18-11, 8-8); No. 19 Coffeyville, Kan. (25-13, 17-7); No. 20 Delgado, La. (26-6, 1-2); No. 21 Sacramento, Calif. (19-6, 8-4); No. 22 Iowa Western (27-8, 5-3); No. 23 State College of Florida-Manatee (22-14, 8-9).