Junior College Top 25: March 10 | Bickford painting corners for CSN

California junior colleges often don’t get the recognition they deserve nationally because they are not members of the National Junior College Athletic Association and don’t participate in the annual Junior College World Series, but every once in a while the state produces a team that can’t be overlooked.

It happened a year ago when a pitching-rich Orange Coast College club captured a state title to claim the No. 1 spot in Perfect Game’s final ranking of the nation’s top junior colleges. And that scenario is in the process of repeating itself this spring as California’s San Joaquin Delta College has raced out to a perfect 20-0 record to secure its place atop PG’s junior-college rankings at roughly the mid-point of the 2015 season. The Mustangs moved into the top spot two weeks ago with their undefeated start and remain safely entrenched with six more wins.

“This club is very similar to last year’s club,” said coach Reed Peters, who guided the Mustangs to a state title in 2011 and runner-up finish to Orange Coast a year ago. “We’re strong up the middle with Collin Theroux catching, Jacob Thomas at shortstop and Nate Easley in center field. Our lineup is a little deeper overall, and we have a deeper bench.”

Theroux, an Oklahoma State recruit and the team’s top position talent for the 2015 draft, leads the Mustangs with five homers and 20 RBIs, while hitting .286.

“Our pitching depth is similar to last year, but our starters have been more consistent,” Peters added. “The big difference this year is we have not beaten ourselves so far and we have capitalized on opponents’ mistakes.”

Delta’s obvious strength is its three-man rotation of freshman lefthander Cameron Avila-Leeper (7-0, 1.89), a 29th-round pick of the Minnesota Twins in the 2014 draft; red-shirt freshman Dean Kremer (5-0, 2.23), a Nevada-Las Vegas recruit, and sophomore righthander Ricky Delgado (5-0, 2.04), who began his career at Cal State Fullerton in 2012. That trio has helped the Mustangs post a collective 2.00 ERA.

The top three spots in PG’s latest Top 25 remain unchanged, with two Florida schools (St. Johns River and Chipola) holding steady at Nos. 2 and 3, but the remainder of the rankings experienced a significant shakeup with seven new entrants, led by Hinds (Miss.) at No. 13.


Through games of March 22, 2015