JUCO: Top 50 Teams (5/9)

Allan Simpson

No Matter How You Slice It, Florida Is First

Florida will be the first state to crown a champion and send a representative to this year’s Junior College World Series as the Florida state juco tournament (technically Region 8) is well underway and within a day or two of completion.

The big question will be whether Florida’s Santa Fe Community College can win the tournament and hang on to its current No. 1 national ranking. The Saints lost in an early-round game at the eight-team, double-elimination tournament and have been forced to work their way back through the loser’s bracket.

But they have at least held onto the top spot in the latest Perfect Game/National Junior College Athletic Association Top 50 Junior-College Poll, which includes all games played through Monday. Three Florida teams are in the latest top 10, including No. 7 Northwest Florida State, the last unbeaten team in the state tournament.

Even if Santa Fe, which finished second at the Junior College World Series two years ago, should fail to come out of the highly-competitive Region 8 tournament and surrender its No. 1 position, the Florida junior-college ranks will still lay claim to having the top pick in this year’s draft as Miami-Dade outfielder Brian Goodwin and Indian River State infielder Cory Spangenberg are borderline first-round prospects for this year’s draft. The two players rank 1-2 in Perfect Game’s list of the Top 100 Junior College Prospects in the draft.

Post-season competition is well underway across the country at the junior-college level, not just in Florida, and will intensify this weekend as most other states and regions determine champions. Ten teams will ultimately make their way to Grand Junction, Colo., for this year’s Junior College World Series, scheduled for May 28-June 4.

For more information on the NJCAA tournaments, please access njcaa.org/baseball.

Compiled by Perfect Game USA / National Junior College Athletic Association
Through Games of May 9, 2011

5-9	4-25	TEAM	STATE	DIVISION	Overall	Conf#	Post-Season Status
1	1	Santa Fe	FL	NJCAA I	37-10	18-6	2-1 at Region 8
2	3	Central Arizona	AZ	NJCAA I	46-12	32-8	Region 1 / starting May 12
3	4	Howard	TX	NJCAA I	42-12	26-6	1-1 at Region 5
4	5	Walters State	TN	NJCAA I	41-11	20-6	1-0 at Region 7
5	10	Rio Hondo	CA	California	36-3	22-2	California super regionals / May 13
6	8	Polk State	FL	NJCAA I	42-11	16-5	2-1 at Region 8
7	13	Northwest Florida State	FL	NJCAA I	39-13	16-8	3-0 at Region 8
8	14	Western Nevada	NV	NJCAA I	44-11	37-3	Region 18 / starts May 11
9	7	Santa Ana	CA	California	27-12	17-4	California super regionals / May 13
10	15	Grayson County	TX	NJCAA I	40-14	22-10	2-0 at Region 5
11	17	San Jacinto	TX	NJCAA I	38-14	24-7	Region 14 / starts May 14
12	12	USC Sumter	SC	NJCAA I	39-10	20-4	3-1 at Region 10
13	16	Orange Coast	CA	California	30-8	14-7	California super regionals / May 13
14	18	Seminole State	OK	NJCAA I	39-13	15-5	Region 2 / starts May 12
15	6	Salt Lake	UT	NJCAA I	43-13	28-12	Region 18 / starts May 11
16	11	Chattanooga State	TN	NJCAA I	41-11	18-8	1-0 at Region 7
17	20	McLennan	TX	NJCAA I	37-19	26-6	1-1 at Region 5
18	22	Navarro	TX	NJCAA I	37-17	17-8	Region 14 / starts May 14
19	23	Northwest Shoals	AL	NJCAA I	36-15	24-3	1-1 at Region 22
20	25	Neosho County	KS	NJCAA I	45-12	29-7	Region 6 / starts May 14
21	26	Georgia Perimeter	GA	NJCAA I	38-15	21-7	Region 17 / starts 13
22	28	Palomar	CA	California	28-11	19-6	California super regionals / May 13
23	29	Blinn	TX	NJCAA I	37-15	23-8	Region 14 / starts May 14
24	31	LSU-Eunice	LA	NJCAA II	41-13	0-0	NJCAA Division II tournament
25	33	Chipola	FL	NJCAA I	35-20	16-8	2-1 at Region 8
26	32	Lamar	CO	NJCAA I	44-14	25-5	Region 9 / starts May 14
27	41	Crowder	MO	NJCAA I	38-16	20-6	Region 16 / starts May 11
28	43	Wabash Valley	IL	NJCAA I	44-15	22-10	Region 24 / starts May 14
29	44	Chattahoochee Valley	AL	NJCAA I	38-18	23-7	1-1 at Region 22
30	48	Yavapai	AZ	NJCAA I	36-23	24-17	Region 1 / starts May 12
31	30	Eastern Oklahoma	OK	NJCAA I	33-20	13-7	Region 2 / starts May 12
32	34	Southern Union	AL	NJCAA I	40-18	22-8	3-0 at Region 22
33	35	Olney Central	IL	NJCAA I	43-16	21-11	Region 24 / starts May 14
34	37	Iowa Western	IA	NJCAA I	33-17	15-1	Region 11 / starts May 13
35	49	Bellevue	WA	NWAACC	28-10	18-2	NWAACC playoffs
36	2	Feather River	CA	California	31-7	23-2	Season complete
37	21	Angelina	TX	NJCAA I	35-20	17-9	Region 14 / starts May 14
38		Seward County	KS	NJCAA I	40-18	21-7	Region 6 / starts May 14
39		Pitt	NC	NJCAA I	34-11	16-10	3-0 in Region 10
40		Jefferson	MO	NJCAA I	35-18	18-10	Region 16 / starts May 11
41		San Mateo	CA	California	27-10	18-4	California super regionals / May 13
42	42	Yakima Valley	WA	NWAACC	26-7	20-4	NWAACC playoffs
43	50	Delgado	LA	NJCAA I	37-14	5-7	Region 23 / starts May 13
44	19	Cowley County	KS	NJCAA I	43-13	30-6	Season complete
45		New Mexico	NM	NJCAA I	37-20	20-12	2-0 at Region 5
46		Merced	CA	California	27-11	19-5	California super regionals / May 13
47		John A. Logan	IL	NJCAA I	34-15	19-13	Region 24 / starts May 14
48	38	Frederick	MD	NJCAA II	42-5	20-5	NJCAA Division II tournament
49		Connors State	OK	NJCAA I	37-18	13-7	Region 2 / starts May 12
50		Harford	MD	NJCAA I	43-11	20-7	Region 20 / starts May 20

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