Five-Pack Remains Unshakeable At Top of Rankings
On March 26, California’s Orange Coast College settled in as the nation’s No. 1-ranked junior-college team. By April 10, Iowa Western, Walters State (Tenn.), Howard (Texas) and Polk State (Fla.) established themselves as the Nos. 2-5-ranked clubs in the country.
That quintet has continued to play at such a high level since that there has been no movement of any kind at the top of Perfect Game’s national ranking of the nation’s Top 50 junior-college teams.
Even as post-season tournament play is well underway on numerous fronts nationally and 16 of the top 50 teams have been eliminated from championship contention, the Big Five continue to win at a dizzying pace, and are a collective 230-38 through games of Sunday.
By winning one of two southern California super-regionals over the weekend, Orange Coast (36-5) has advanced to California’s Final Four this coming weekend in Bakersfield, Calif., and conceivably could clinch the No. 1 ranking in the country before the showcase event of junior-college baseball, the Junior College World Series, scheduled for May 26-June 2 in its traditional home of Grand Junction, Colo., has even begun. California teams are not members of the National Junior College Athletic Association, and ineligible to play in the national tournament.
Should Orange Coast falter, there are plenty of contenders for the No. 1 national ranking, led by the four teams most closely in pursuit of the Pirates. All have Grand Junction on their mind.
Of the four, No. 5 Polk State (45-10) was the only team, through games of Sunday, to punch its ticket to the 10-team Junior College World Series, though Kansas’ No. 16-ranked Neosho County (47-14) became the second team Monday by winning the NJCAA Region 6 title. Polk County won the rugged Region 8 tournament—effectively, the Florida state junior-college championship—a week ago.
Meanwhile, No. 2 Iowa Western (54-4) needs to win the three-team Northern District championship (Iowa, Illinois) this week to earn a trip to Grand Junction, while No. 3 Walters State (52-9) must do the same in the three-team East Central District (Tennessee, Georgia) and No. 4 Howard (43-10) will need to follow suit in Region 5 (west Texas), already underway. All three teams have a championship lineage as Walters State won the Junior College World Series in 2006, Howard in 2009 and Iowa Western in 2010.
Perhaps the most hotly-contested junior-college tournament (Western District) will be played this weekend in Salt Lake City, involving No. 6 Central Arizona (47-13), the Region 1 champion; No. 7 Salt Lake (43-8), the Region 18 champion; Colorado’s No. 26 Lamar (47-10), the Region 9 champion; and No. 13 Western Nevada (44-15), the runner-up team to Salt Lake in Region 18. The winner moves on to Grand Junction.
That four-team field should hold additional appeal as Western Nevada features the No. 1-ranked junior-college player in the nation in righthander Dylan Baker, who is regarded by scouts as a fringe first-round pick for the June 4-6 draft.
As the No. 1 team, Orange Coast is not lacking in talent itself as it boasts as many as 6-7 players who could be drafted, including righthander Brandon Brennan, outfielder Chris Carlson and outfielder/lefthander Bijan Rademacher, all possible selections in the first 10 rounds. Howard, Perfect Game’s No. 1-ranked team at the outset of the 2012 season, is the only other junior-college team with a realistic chance of producing as many as three players in the top 10 rounds in righthanders Reid Scoggins and Clayton Crum, and lefthander Logan Ehlers, all of whom have reached the high-90s. The fast-charging Scoggins joins Baker as the two junior-college pitchers in the nation this spring that have topped out at 100 mph.
Post-season tournament play continues on a number of fronts this week as teams contend for various championships beyond the NJCAA Division I level and state level, as applicable to California.
The NJCAA Division II and Division III national tournaments have also gotten underway, with the D-II World Series scheduled for Enid, Okla., May 26-June 2 and D-III World Series slated for Tyler, Texas, beginning Saturday. LSU-Eunice (48-4) is the top-ranked D-II team in the Perfect Game Top 50, holding steady at No. 10.
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 this weekend. 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
5-7 - Ranking as of May 7
^ Qualified for Junior College World Series
* National Junior College Division II team
| RK |
5-7 |
Team |
State |
Overall |
Season Status |
| 1 |
1 |
Orange Coast |
CA |
36-5 |
California Final 4 |
| 2 |
2 |
Iowa Western |
IA |
54-4 |
NJCAA Region 11 champion |
| 3 |
3 |
Walters State |
TN |
52-9 |
NJCAA Region 7 champion |
| 4 |
4 |
Howard |
TX |
43-10 |
In NJCAA Region 5 tournament |
| 5 |
5 |
Polk State |
FL |
45-10 |
^NJCAA Region 8 champion |
| 6 |
7 |
Central Arizona |
AZ |
47-13 |
NJCAA Region 1 champion |
| 7 |
8 |
Salt Lake |
UT |
43-8 |
NJCAA Region 18 champion |
| 8 |
9 |
Middle Georgia |
GA |
40-11 |
In NJCAA Region 17 tournament |
| 9 |
12 |
Jefferson |
MO |
48-9 |
NJCAA Region 15 champion |
| 10 |
10 |
*LSU-Eunice |
LA |
49-4 |
In NJCAA-II Region 23 tournament |
| 11 |
14 |
Rio Hondo |
CA |
38-3 |
California Final 4 |
| 12 |
6 |
Louisburg |
NC |
52-9 |
Season complete |
| 13 |
16 |
Western Nevada |
NV |
44-15 |
NJCAA Region 18 runner-up |
| 14 |
17 |
Central Alabama |
AL |
40-11 |
In NJCAA Region 22 tournament |
| 15 |
21 |
Cisco |
TX |
45-12 |
In NJCAA Region 5 tournament |
| 16 |
37 |
Neosho County |
KS |
47-14 |
In NJCAA Region 6 tournament |
| 17 |
38 |
Spartanburg Methodist |
SC |
43-16 |
NJCAA Region 10 champion |
| 18 |
13 |
Santa Fe |
FL |
37-13 |
Season complete |
| 19 |
15 |
Palm Beach State |
FL |
38-16 |
Season complete |
| 20 |
20 |
Grayson County |
TX |
42-16 |
In NJCAA Region 5 tournament |
| 21 |
11 |
Feather River |
CA |
32-8 |
Season complete |
| 22 |
23 |
Columbia State |
TN |
42-12 |
NJCAA Region 7 runner-up |
| 23 |
24 |
Chipola |
FL |
39-17 |
Season complete |
| 24 |
25 |
Georgia Perimeter |
GA |
43-14 |
In NJCAA Region 17 tournament |
| 25 |
18 |
Santa Ana |
CA |
33-9 |
Season complete |
| 26 |
32 |
Lamar |
CO |
47-10 |
NJCAA Region 9 champion |
| 27 |
33 |
Bellevue |
WA |
33-8 |
In NWAACC tournament |
| 28 |
34 |
Wallace State-Hanceville |
AL |
38-15 |
In NJCAA Region 22 tournament |
| 29 |
35 |
*Heartland |
IL |
47-6 |
In NJCAA-II Region 24 tournament |
| 30 |
22 |
Seminole State |
OK |
41-15 |
Season complete |
| 31 |
27 |
Crowder |
MO |
44-17 |
Season complete |
| 32 |
43 |
San Jacinto |
TX |
34-23 |
In NJCAA Region 14 tournament |
| 33 |
19 |
Florence-Darlington |
SC |
42-12 |
Season complete |
| 34 |
42 |
Navarro |
TX |
34-18 |
In NJCAA Region 14 tournament |
| 35 |
|
Eastern Oklahoma State |
OK |
36-20 |
NJCAA Region 2 champion |
| 36 |
26 |
Yavapai |
AZ |
40-20 |
Season complete |
| 37 |
48 |
John A. Logan |
IL |
39-20 |
NJCAA Region 24 champion |
| 38 |
|
Cosumnes River |
CA |
25-16 |
California Final 4 |
| 39 |
|
Sierra |
CA |
25-15 |
California Final 4 |
| 40 |
30 |
Northeast Texas |
TX |
32-15 |
In NJCAA Region 14 tournament |
| 41 |
28 |
San Mateo |
CA |
32-12 |
Season complete |
| 42 |
29 |
Wabash Valley |
IL |
48-13 |
Season complete |
| 43 |
44 |
*Des Moines Area |
IA |
48-13 |
NJCAA-II Region 11 champion |
| 44 |
50 |
Harford |
MD |
45-13 |
NJCAA Region 20 champion |
| 45 |
31 |
Johnson County |
KS |
40-18 |
Season complete |
| 46 |
39 |
Fresno |
CA |
29-13 |
Season complete |
| 47 |
41 |
State College of Florida-Manatee |
FL |
33-17 |
Season complete |
| 48 |
|
Mt. Hood |
OR |
31-7 |
In NWAACC tournament |
| 49 |
46 |
New Mexico |
NM |
36-19 |
In NJCAA Region 5 tournament |
| 50 |
36 |
Ohlone |
CA |
28-12 |
Season complete |
Dropped out: Mt. San Antonio, Glendale, Northeastern, Everett