NJCAA Classic Announced For Early February

Perfect Game Staff

Photo: Perfect Game

PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. – Visit Panama City Beach is excited to announce a new collegiate event at Panama City Beach Sports Complex this spring. The Visit PCB NJCAA College Baseball Classic will be taking place Feb. 4-6, 2022 and features the best programs in National Junior College in a 16-team tournament. Hosted by Gulf Coast Community College, the event will feature 10 teams that were either Top 25 last year or preseason Top 25 this season.

Teams committed include 2022 preseason No. 1 team San Jacinto (Houston, Texas), 2021 National Champions McLennan CC (Waco, Texas) and 2021 No. 1 team Wabash Valley from Mt. Carmel, Ill. Seven Florida schools will compete, including Chipola Community College (Marianna, Fla.), Gulf Coast State College (Panama City, Fla.), Northwest FL State (Niceville, Fla.), State College of Florida (Bradenton, Fla.), Miami Dade Community College (Miami, Fla.), Florida SouthWestern State (Fort Myers, Fla.) and St. Johns River (Orange Park, Fla.). All games will take place on the new AstroTurf fields at PCB Sports Complex managed by Sports Facility Management.

“With programs coming in from Texas, Alabama, Louisiana, Illinois, South Carolina, and Georgia, we are looking forward to some incredible early season matchups in one of the toughest fields assembled in NJCAA ranks,” said States Gulf Coast Director of Athletics Mike Kandler.

“When we built this complex this was just the type of college event we were looking to develop and host in the destination. We’re excited to bring together this tournament hosted by Gulf Coast State College in conjunction with NJCAA and Perfect Game which adds a whole new level to the tournament,” said President and CEO of Visit Panama City Beach, Dan Rowe.

The 16-team bracket will start Friday, Feb. 4, with the championship game on Feb. 6; tickets are available at $10 per session or $25 for the tournament. The largest baseball scouting organization, Perfect Game, will serve as the official scouting and media coverage partner for the event. PerfectGame.TV will produce multiple games throughout the weekend with long-time MLB play-by-play voice Daron Sutton leading the coverage. PG’s JUCO Baseball and MLB Draft team of Brian Sakowski and Colton Olinger will lead the scouting coverage on the website and social media as well.

Major League Baseball scouts and Division-I college coaches will all be in attendance as these NJCAA programs have produced some of the best players in the nation. The MVP of the event will be named after Legendary 324-game winner and Hall of Famer Don Sutton, who pitched at Gulf Coast Community College.

“We can’t wait to be part of this inaugural event with such an elite field of teams. It really has some of the very best college baseball teams in the country. Combine that with this fantastic facility and welcoming community like Panama City Beach, it’s surely going to be a memorable weekend and really put it on the map for years to come,” said Perfect Game Vice President of Operations, Taylor McCollough.

2022 teams
Gulf Coast State College – Panama City, Fla.
Chipola Community College – Marianna, Fla.
Northwest FL State – Niceville, Fla.
State College of Florida – Bradenton, Fla.
St. Johns River State College – Palatka, Fla.
Florida SouthWestern State – Fort Myers, Fla.
Miami Dade CC – Miami, Fla.
Andrew College – Cuthbert, Ga.
Florence Darlington Technical College – Florence, S.C.
McLennan Community College – Waco, Texas
San Jacinto College – Houston, Texas
Wabash Valley – Mt. Carmel, Ill.
Wallace Community College – Dothan, Ala.
Wallace State – Hanceville, Ala.
Chattahoochee Valley CC – Phenix City, Ala.
Delgado Community College – New Orleans, La.

Notable Major League Baseball Alumni
Gulf Coast State College – Don Sutton, Terrance Gore, Will Smith, Curt Leskanic
Chipola CC – Jose Bautista, Russell Martin, Edwin Alicea, Adam Duvall
NW FL State – Jeff Farnsworth, Jason Michaels
State College of Florida – Jody Reed, Ron Washington, Johnny Grubb, Glenn Davis, Alex Cole
St Johns River State College – Howie Kendrick, Nathaniel Lowe
Florida SouthWestern State – Joel Pineiro
Miami Dade – Mike Piazza, Raul Ibanez, Bucky Dent, Mickey Rivers, Jaime Navarro, John Cangelosi
McLennan CC – Jay Buhner, Craig McMurty, Chris Martin
San Jacinto – Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, David Rollins
Wallace State – Craig Kimbrel, Derek Holland
Wallace CC – Mackey Sasser
Chattahoochee Valley – Tim Hudson, Danny Cox, Chuck James

PERFECTGAME.TV

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