Big
Shakeup At Top of Rankings
The
10-team field is set for this year’s Junior College World Series,
which begins Saturday in Grand Junction, Colo., and some familiar
faces like Iowa Western, Jefferson (Mo.), San Jacinto (Texas),
Spartanburg Methodist (S.C.) and Western Nevada are among those
schools participating.
But
the tournament field is more noticeable for the absence of teams like
Central Arizona, Howard (Texas), Middle Georgia and Walters State
(Tenn.), which sat at or near the top of Perfect Game’s ranking of
the nation’s Top 50 junior-college teams all season, only to
be bounced one step away from taking part in this year’s national
tournament.
If the omission of those teams is a little surprising, the biggest
shocker is the demise over the weekend of the nation’s No. 1-ranked
junior-college team, Orange Coast College, which went out in two
straight at the California Final Four state championship. The
Pirates, described by numerous long-time observers as the
most-talented team to come from California in years, had held the top
spot in the PG poll for two months.
The
California championship series hardly went according to form as both
Orange Coast (36-5 entering the tournament) and Rio Hondo (38-3),
which had fewer defeats than any junior-college team in the country,
lost out to surprising Cosumnes River (28-16), which went on a
late-season charge, highlighted by three straight wins in the
California Final Four. California teams are not members of the
National Junior College Athletic Association, and not eligible to
participate in the Junior College World Series.
Led
by Orange Coast, the top five teams in the PG Top 50 had remained
unchanged for three weeks, but the series of upsets nationally over
the last several days has seen a significant shakeup at the top of
this week’s rankings.
Iowa
Western (57-5), previously ranked No. 2, is the new No. 1 team, and
becomes only the third team to hold that position this spring.
Howard, which lost in the NJCAA Region 5 tournament championship game
to upstart Cisco (Texas), began the 2012 season in the top spot, only
to be replaced in mid-March by Orange Coast.
Orange
Coast has dropped to No. 7 in the latest PG rankings, while Howard
has fallen to No. 10. Though neither team finished its season on a
positive note, both schools are expected to be front and center in
this year’s first-year baseball player draft, scheduled to begin
June 4—two days after the conclusion of the Junior College World
Series. Between them, Orange Coast and Howard could have as many as
15-16 players drafted, including the possibility of three each in the
first 10 rounds. No other junior colleges are expected to impact the
draft to that degree.
Before
the draft begins, though, the focus at the junior-college level will
be on the Junior College World Series, which includes all of the top
five teams in PG’s current Top 50 ranking. In addition to new No. 1
Iowa Western, the 2010 champion, the field includes No. 2 Polk State
(Fla.), No. 3 Jefferson, No. 4 Western Nevada and No. 5 Cisco.
Seven-time former national champion San Jacinto, newly-ranked at No.
16, is also participating.
Western
Nevada (47-15) reached the tournament by winning an especially
difficult regional that included previous No. 6-ranked Central
Arizona, No. 7 Salt Lake and No. 26 Lamar (Colo.), and its appearance
in the Junior College World Series is noteworthy as it boasts the
nation’s top-ranked junior-college prospect in this year’s draft
in sophomore rigfhthander Dylan Baker, whose fastball has peaked this
spring at 100 mph.
Meanwhile,
the NJCAA Division II World Series begins Saturday, as well, in Enid,
Okla., and that 10-team field includes No. 6-ranked LSU-Eunice (49-4)
and two other teams ranked in the PG Top 50, No. 19 Heartland and No.
23 Des Moines Area. The Northwest Athletic of Association of
Community College championship, involving teams from Oregon and
Washington, also begins this weekend. Defending champion Bellevue
(Wash.) is the highest-ranked NWAACC team at No. 30.
www.njcaa.org
www.nwaacc.org
5-14 - Ranking as of May 14
| RK |
5-14 |
Team |
State |
Overall |
Season Status |
| 1 |
2 |
Iowa Western |
IA |
57-5 |
In Junior College World Series |
| 2 |
5 |
Polk State |
FL |
45-10 |
In Junior College World Series |
| 3 |
9 |
Jefferson |
MO |
51-10 |
In Junior College World Series |
| 4 |
13 |
Western Nevada |
NV |
47-15 |
In Junior College World Series |
| 5 |
15 |
Cisco |
TX |
48-13 |
In Junior College World Series |
| 6 |
10 |
*LSU-Eunice |
LA |
52-4 |
In Junior College-II World Series |
| 7 |
1 |
Orange Coast |
CA |
36-7 |
Season complete |
| 8 |
17 |
Spartanburg Methodist |
SC |
45-16 |
In Junior College World Series |
| 9 |
16 |
Neosho County |
KS |
47-14 |
In Junior College World Series |
| 10 |
4 |
Howard |
TX |
45-12 |
Season complete |
| 11 |
7 |
Salt Lake |
UT |
45-10 |
Season complete |
| 12 |
6 |
Central Arizona |
AZ |
47-15 |
Season complete |
| 13 |
8 |
Middle Georgia |
GA |
46-13 |
Season complete |
| 14 |
11 |
Rio Hondo |
CA |
40-5 |
Season complete |
| 15 |
3 |
Walters State |
TN |
52-11 |
Season complete |
| 16 |
32 |
San Jacinto |
TX |
37-23 |
In Junior College World Series |
| 17 |
12 |
Louisburg |
NC |
52-9 |
Season complete |
| 18 |
38 |
Cosumnes River |
CA |
28-16 |
California junior-college state champion |
| 19 |
29 |
*Heartland |
IL |
51-6 |
In Junior College-II World Series |
| 20 |
18 |
Santa Fe |
FL |
37-13 |
Season complete |
| 21 |
19 |
Palm Beach State |
FL |
38-16 |
Season complete |
| 22 |
|
Shelton State |
AL |
38-21 |
In Junior College |
| 23 |
43 |
*Des Moines Area |
IA |
50-13 |
In Junior College-II World Series |
| 24 |
14 |
Central Alabama |
AL |
42-13 |
Season complete |
| 25 |
20 |
Grayson County |
TX |
44-18 |
Season complete |
| 26 |
21 |
Feather River |
CA |
32-8 |
Season complete |
| 27 |
23 |
Chipola |
FL |
39-17 |
Season complete |
| 28 |
25 |
Santa Ana |
CA |
33-9 |
Season complete |
| 29 |
26 |
Lamar |
CO |
47-12 |
Season complete |
| 30 |
27 |
Bellevue |
WA |
34-10 |
In NWAACC tournament |
| 31 |
|
Gordon |
GA |
36-23 |
In Junior College World Series |
| 32 |
30 |
Seminole State |
OK |
41-15 |
Season complete |
| 33 |
31 |
Crowder |
MO |
44-17 |
Season complete |
| 34 |
33 |
Florence-Darlington |
SC |
42-12 |
Season complete |
| 35 |
22 |
Columbia State |
TN |
43-14 |
Season complete |
| 36 |
36 |
Yavapai |
AZ |
40-20 |
Season complete |
| 37 |
37 |
John A. Logan |
IL |
41-22 |
Season complete |
| 38 |
39 |
Sierra |
CA |
26-17 |
Season complete |
| 39 |
24 |
Georgia Perimeter |
GA |
43-16 |
Season complete |
| 40 |
28 |
Wallace State-Hanceville |
AL |
41-17 |
Season complete |
| 41 |
34 |
Navarro |
TX |
37-20 |
Season complete |
| 42 |
35 |
Eastern Oklahoma State |
OK |
38-22 |
Season complete |
| 43 |
48 |
Mt. Hood |
OR |
35-9 |
In NWAACC tournament |
| 45 |
40 |
Northeast Texas |
TX |
32-16 |
Season complete |
| 44 |
41 |
San Mateo |
CA |
32-12 |
Season complete |
| 46 |
42 |
Wabash Valley |
IL |
48-13 |
Season complete |
| 47 |
45 |
Johnson County |
KS |
40-18 |
Season complete |
| 48 |
46 |
Fresno |
CA |
29-13 |
Season complete |
| 49 |
47 |
State College of Florida-Manatee |
FL |
33-17 |
Season complete |
| 50 |
44 |
Harford |
MD |
44-15 |
Season complete |
Dropped out: New Mexico, Ohlone