Top
9 Teams Remain Same as Post-Season Tournaments Begin
Post-season
play begins on a number of fronts this week as junior college teams
around the country vie for a number of championships—both at the
national and state levels.
Every
team in Perfect Game’s latest ranking of the nation’s Top 50
junior-college teams will participate in tournament play in some
way, shape or form, including California’s Orange Coast College
(31-4-1), which continues to hang on to its No. 1 ranking that it has
held since March. The Pirates will begin play this week in the
36-team California state junior-college tournament.
For
most teams in the Top 50, the big prize is the National Junior
College Athletic Association Division I championship—known more
commonly as the Junior College World Series—which will be played
May 26-June 2 at its familiar home in Grand Junction, Colo. Through
various regional and district tournaments, many of which start this
week, 10 teams will eventually work their way to Grand Junction.
Iowa
Western (46-3), the 2010 national champion, is the highest-ranked
NJCAA D-I team in the Top 50 at No. 2, followed by Tennessee’s
Walters State (47-8), the 2006 national champion at No. 3, and Texas’
Howard College (37-10), the 2009 national champion, at No. 4. All
three teams have held steady in this week’s national ranking—just
as the top nine teams overall have.
Meanwhile,
the NJCAA Division II and Division III national tournaments also get
underway this week, with the D-II World Series scheduled for Enid,
Okla., May 26-June 2 and D-III World Series slated for Tyler, Texas,
May 19-25. LSU-Eunice (45-4) is the top-ranked D-II team in the
Perfect Game Top 50 at No. 12. No team in D-III is ranked, but
long-time power Gloucester County (N.J.) is the top-ranked team in
the most recent NJCAA baseball rankings.
California
teams are not members of the NJCAA, so do not participate in the
Junior College World Series. So Orange Coast’s chances of
preserving its No. 1 ranking will be dependent on it winning the
California Final Four, scheduled for Bakersfield, Calif., May 18-20.
Teams
in the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges,
consisting of 28 junior colleges in Oregon, Washington and British
Columbia, will contend for their own championship, beginning in
mid-May. Defending champion Bellevue (Wash.) CC is the NWAACC’s
top-ranked team at No. 33.
To
follow the respective tournaments, please link to the following
websites:
www.njcaa.org
www.cccaasports.org
www.nwaacc.org
4-23 - Rankings as of April 23
#Conf Conference record (standing)
RK |
4-23 |
Team |
State |
Overall |
#CONF. |
1 |
1 |
Orange Coast |
CA |
31-4 |
18-3 (1) |
2 |
2 |
Iowa Western |
IA |
46-3 |
27-3 (1) |
3 |
3 |
Walters State |
TN |
47-8 |
22-5 (T-1) |
4 |
4 |
Howard |
TX |
37-10 |
21-7 (1) |
5 |
5 |
Polk State |
FL |
40-9 |
16-5 (1) |
6 |
6 |
Louisburg |
NC |
49-7 |
21-7 (2) |
7 |
7 |
Central Arizona |
AZ |
43-13 |
28-10 (T-1) |
8 |
8 |
Salt Lake |
UT |
38-6 |
29-4 (1) |
9 |
9 |
Santa Fe |
FL |
36-11 |
18-5 (1) |
10 |
11 |
Middle Georgia |
GA |
40-11 |
26-6 (1) |
11 |
14 |
Cisco |
TX |
43-9 |
23-5 (1) |
12 |
12 |
*LSU-Eunice |
LA |
45-4 |
n/a |
13 |
13 |
Feather River |
CA |
30-6 |
16-4 (1) |
14 |
15 |
Jefferson |
MO |
42-9 |
20-4 (1) |
15 |
16 |
Chipola |
FL |
37-15 |
16-4 (1) |
16 |
17 |
Palm Beach State |
FL |
35-14 |
15-9 (1) |
17 |
18 |
Western Nevada |
NV |
40-11 |
29-6 (2) |
18 |
19 |
Rio Hondo |
CA |
33-3 |
21-0 (1) |
19 |
10 |
Central Alabama |
AL |
37-10 |
23-6 (1) |
20 |
21 |
Santa Ana |
CA |
29-7 |
16-5 (2) |
21 |
22 |
Florence-Darlington |
SC |
41-10 |
23-4 (1) |
22 |
27 |
Seminole State |
OK |
37-11 |
12-3 (1) |
23 |
23 |
Columbia State |
TN |
38-10 |
22-5 (T-1) |
24 |
25 |
Wabash Valley |
IL |
44-9 |
22-5 (2) |
25 |
29 |
Georgia Perimeter |
GA |
39-13 |
19-9 (3) |
26 |
30 |
Yavapai |
AZ |
38-18 |
28-10 (T-1) |
27 |
32 |
San Mateo |
CA |
27-9 |
19-3 (1) |
28 |
34 |
Northeast Texas |
TX |
32-14 |
26-10 (1) |
29 |
35 |
Crowder |
MO |
36-15 |
18-6 (2) |
30 |
38 |
Johnson County |
KS |
38-16 |
26-10 (1) |
31 |
31 |
Grayson County |
TX |
36-15 |
20-8 (2) |
32 |
28 |
*Heartland |
IL |
37-4 |
23-3 (1) |
33 |
20 |
Bellevue |
WA |
29-8 |
15-5 (2) |
34 |
36 |
Lamar |
CO |
42-10 |
24-5 (1) |
35 |
37 |
State College of Florida-Manatee |
FL |
32-15 |
14-7 (2) |
36 |
40 |
Ohlone |
CA |
26-10 |
20-4 (1) |
37 |
41 |
Neosho County |
KS |
40-14 |
25-11 (T-2) |
38 |
42 |
Spartanburg Methodist |
SC |
39-15 |
15-11 (3) |
39 |
43 |
Fresno |
CA |
25-11 |
20-4 (1) |
40 |
26 |
Navarro |
TX |
33-16 |
24-12 (2) |
41 |
45 |
Wallace State-Hanceville |
AL |
33-15 |
18-10 (2) |
42 |
24 |
Eastern Oklahoma State |
OK |
32-15 |
9-7 (4) |
43 |
48 |
Mt. San Antonio |
CA |
28-8 |
17-4 (1) |
44 |
47 |
San Jacinto |
TX |
31-21 |
22-12 (1) |
45 |
50 |
*Des Moines Area |
IA |
36-11 |
19-1 (1) |
46 |
|
Tacoma |
WA |
27-6 |
14-2 (T-1) |
47 |
|
Glendale |
CA |
25-10 |
16-5 (1) |
48 |
44 |
New Mexico |
NM |
34-18 |
22-10 (2) |
49 |
49 |
Central Florida |
FL |
32-18 |
16-8 (2) |
50 |
|
Harford |
MD |
39-11 |
22-3 (1) |
Dropped out: Darton, John A. Logan, Edmonds