CENTERVILLE, Iowa -- A berth in the Juco World Series is on the line this weekend as four regional championship teams gather here for the NJCAA Midwest District tournament.
Wabash Valley, the defending District champion, is trying to make back-to-back trips to Grand Junction, Colorado for the first time in school history. The Warriors, who finished fourth in the national tournament one year ago, carry the top ranking of this year's field into the double-elimination affair. They are ranked No. 3 in the final NJCAA Division I poll of the year.
WVC opens tournament play on Wednesday at 12 noon CDT against fellow Great Rivers Athletic Conference member and fellow Top 20 school John A. Logan. The Volunteers are ranked No. 18.
The second game, which begins at 3 p.m. features host Indian Hills, the Region 11 winner, against Region 4 champion South Suburban.
Play continues through Friday in a double-elimination format. The champion gains automatic entry into the 10-team Juco World Series, which begins on May 27th at Sam Suplizio Field in Grand Junction, Colorado.
Here is a thumbnail sketch of the Midwest District teams:
Wabash Valley (50-11) advanced off its' third straight Region 24A title and 10th in program history ... Head coach Aaron Biddle is in his first year at the helm. He served as an assistant to Hall of Fame coach Rob Fournier for the past seven seasons. Fournier is now an assistant at Western Kentucky University ... Warriors sport some impressive numbers offensively ... They lead the country in on base percentage (.487), and are second in walks (403), third in runs batted in (540) and runs scored (604), and seventh in hitting (.356) ... On the mound the Warriors are seventh in earned run average (3.66) ... Individually, Nick Williams is sixth in hitting (.464) and second in OBP (.592) … Richard Bonomolo, Jr. is eighth in hitting (.462) … Jorge Rodriguez has three grand slam home runs ... The Warriors have two eight-game winners on the mound (Jacob Frost 8-2, Agnel Miranda 8-1) and two seven-game winners (Mike Sokol 7-0, Louis Phillipe Langevin 7-1) … Warriors are 8-6 vs. ranked teams, 2-1 vs. John A. Logan, 0-1 vs. Indian Hills.
John A. Logan (43-15) won its' first Region 24B title since 2012 ... They are tied with WVC for most region titles with 10 ... The Vols are fast with lots of power. They are 10th with 237 extra base hits, eighth in doubles (137), and 13th in homers (83) … Ben Higdon is one of the top hitters in juco baseball. He is second in hitting (.482), third in slugging percentage (.952), eighth in homers (21), and third in RBIs (95) …. The Vols have three seven-game winners on the hill (Drew Petska 7-1, Jack Hoeymans 7-2, Jaxson Davis 7-0) … Vols are 1-2 vs. Wabash Valley, 2-0 vs. South Suburban.
Indian Hills (33-19) is hosting the tournament for the first time since 2004 ... Sam Hart picked up a save in all three games at the Region 11 tournament, allowing just one hit. The sophomore ranks second in the nation with 12 saves on the year ... Daniel Figueora moved into the top five in program history with 115 career runs scored. He is also fifth in steals (43) ... Indian Hills is 1-0 vs. Wabash Valley.
South Suburban (40-19) is led by NJCAA Hall of Fame Head Coach Steve Ruzich who has won 1,310 career games, fourth on the active wins list in the NJCAA... The Bulldogs are looking for their third trip to the Juco World Series (they went in 1991 and 2006) … They are third in the country in triples (36), ninth in runs (561) … Bradley White is fifth in stolen bases (55) … Scott Hansen is 18th in OBP (.547) … Pitching staff is fifth in shutouts (10) … Dalton Alford (9-2) has the most wins of any pitcher in the tournament … Bulldogs are 0-2 vs. John A. Logan.