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Juco  | Rankings  | 1/27/2015

2015 Top 50 Junior College Teams

Allan Simpson     
Photo: Iowa Western

2015 Perfect Game College Baseball Preview Index


Iowa Western, San Jac, Southern Nevada
Expected to Take Center Stage Again

The 2015 junior-college season begins this week, and some familiar schools are expected to be squarely in the limelight.

Perfect Game’s pre-season ranking of the nation’s Top 50 teams has Iowa Western at No. 1, followed closely by San Jacinto (Texas) at No. 2. Nothing new there as the two long-time JC powers have won eight National Junior College Athletic Association titles between them through the years.

Defending champion Iowa Western is the obvious team to beat as it returns a number of players from a team that went 56-11 and annihilated the field at last year’s national-championship tournament. The Reivers outscored their competition 53-11 in winning five straight games, and followed up an earlier 10-0 victory over runner-up Miami-Dade with a 17-5 drubbing in the championship game.

Last year’s title marked the third championship in the last five years for the Reivers. Appropriately, Iowa Western beat San Jacinto in the national-championship game in both 2010 and 2012.

Despite those setbacks, San Jacinto knows all about multiple national championships as it won the Junior College World Series five times in six years, from 1985-90. The Gators have also finished second on six occasions.

In addition to Iowa Western and San Jacinto, the College of Southern Nevada is back in the national spotlight again—much like it was in 2010, when high-profile catcher Bryce Harper took the junior-college game by storm on his way to being selected No. 1 overall in that year’s draft.

CSN has another marquee talent in its midst this year in the presence of righthander Philip Bickford, who was the 10th overall pick in the 2013 draft and ranks as the best prospect to infiltrate the junior-college ranks since Harper. Bickford, who possesses a fastball that has been clocked up to 97 mph, is expected to be selected again in the top half of the first round in June after transferring to Southern Nevada from Cal State Fullerton.

Not unexpectedly, Bickford ranks No. 1 on PG’s list of the nation’s Top 200 junior-college prospects for the draft entering the 2015 season.

Perfect Game will continue to monitor the progress of the nation’s top junior colleges throughout the 2015 season leading up to the Junior College World Series in late May, and the top prospects in the JC ranks in preparation for the draft in early June.


2015 Perfect Game Top 50 Junior College Teams


Rk. Team ST 2014 Record
1 Iowa Western IA 56-11
2 San Jacinto TX 31-26
3 Howard TX 41-18
4 Gulf Coast State FL 40-14
5 St. Johns River FL 37-14
6 Johnson County KS 50-14
7 San Joaquin Delta CA 35-11
8 Southern Nevada NV 32-22
9 Chipola FL 36-12
10 Grayson TX 42-14
11 Florence-Darlington SC 34-18
12 Wabash Valley IL 48-13
13 State College of Florida-Manatee FL 33-20
14 Georgia Perimeter GA 44-14
15 Palm Beach State FL 29-23
16 Blinn TX 36-26
17 Spartanburg Methodist SC 48-18
18 Chattahoochee Valley AL 48-11
19 Cochise AZ 41-31
20 Central Arizona AZ 42-16
21 Miami-Dade FL 38-17
22 Seminole State OK 41-18
23 Walters State TN 43-18
24 Northwest Florida State FL 27-18
25 LSU-Eunice LA 42-13
26 Chabot CA 32-10
27 Tacoma WA 39-8
28 Connors State OK 46-13
29 Polk State FL 39-14
30 Navarro TX 33-22
31 Crowder MO 45-17
32 Midland TX 42-25
33 Columbia State TN 46-13
34 Palomar CA 28-11
35 Shelton State AL 34-23
36 Yavapai AZ 26-25
37 Orange Coast CA 36-9
38 Western Nevada NV 40-18
39 Mesa AZ 52-13
40 Heartland IL 43-13
41 Salt Lake UT 36-18
42 Delgado LA 43-13
43 McLennan TX 32-27
44 Hinds MS 40-21
45 New Mexico NM 34-22
46 Cisco TX 34-22
47 Lower Columbia WA 30-15
48 Riverside CA 17-15
49 Northeastern Oklahoma A&M OK 39-17
50 Lane OR 30-18



Detailed capsules for the top 10 Junior College teams for the 2015 season are available for free. The rest can be viewed with a College Baseball Ticket (CBT) or Insider subscription. To learn more about the College Baseball Ticket, Insider and other PG subscription packages and to sign up today please visit this link.


2015 Perfect Game Top 50 Junior College Team Capsules


1. Iowa Western

Reivers have won 3 of past 5 Junior College World Series titles, and 2015 championship appears theirs for taking as 4 regulars are back, including OF Dom Thompson-Williams (.407-5-44, 20 SB), team's best prospect, Indiana-bound OF Alex Krupa (.427-3-36, 36 SB), MVP of last year's national tournament, and TCU-bound SS Ryan Merrill (.357-2-34); Oklahoma-bound RHP Brayden Young (5-3, 4.54) is only arm of note returning, but pitching staff has been beefed up with addition of ex-Wichita State RHP Mitch McIntyre, among others.


2. San Jacinto (Texas)

At 30-26, Gators were barely a .500 team a year ago, but there may not be a deeper team in JC ranks in 2015; LSU-bound RHP Josh Smith (6-2, 2.30), along with Auburn-bound OF Josh Palacios (.372-0-25) and LHP Aaron Ford (2-4, 2.00), are key holdovers, but ranks have been bolstered by three TCU transfers (C Will Foreman, 3B Eric Garza, OF Walker Pennington), along with ex-Duke RHP J.R. Holloway, ex-Pepperdine RHP Hudson Treu, ex-Arkansas RHP Alex Phillips.


3. Howard (Texas)

Hawks feature impressive mix of returning talent like C Ryan McCarvel (.398-7-50), 2B Brandon Wagner (.314-4-49), Louisiana-Lafayette-bound OF Ishmael Edwards (.362-2-40), Charlotte-bound RHP Zach Flanagan (5-2, 3.12), newcomers like ex-LSU OF Jarrett DeHart, fleet freshman OF James Davison.


4. Gulf Coast State (Fla.)

Commodores feature deep, experienced roster with 8 players committed to major D-I programs; Alabama-bound RHP Matt Foster (3-1, 2.09), East Carolina-bound West Covington (10-3, 2.74), ex-Virginia LHP Adam Bleday are top 3 starters, while Troy-bound 1B Trevor Davis (.351-3-38), N.C. State-bound 3B Christian Williams (.398-3-32) and Tennessee-bound SS Max Bartlett (.289-0-31) are stalwarts in field.


5. St. Johns River (Fla.)

Vikings surged into national spotlight a year ago and are primed for another run with return of two top arms in Florida State-bound RHP Dustin Hersey (9-3, 3.05), South Florida-bound RHP Trae Ratliff (6-0, 1.92); depleted offense returns South Alabama-bound OF Myles Straw (.354-0-24), got shot in arm with transfer of 1B/3B Hunter Alexander (Florida), SS Kyle Hann (Mississippi State).


6. Johnson County (Kan.)

Of 10 teams that participated in 2014 JC World Series, no team may be as well equipped to return as Cavaliers, who return 7 regulars in field, along with a number of quality arms; New Mexico State-bound 1B Anthony Miller (.322-13-63) is top returning bat, while ex-Missouri OF Sean Ullrich is a key addition; ex-Purdue RHP Matt McHugh and Creighton-bound RHP Austin Stroschein, the team's top prospect, take over as the 1-2 arms atop the pitching staff.


7. San Joaquin Delta (Calif.)

Second-place finishers in California's Final Four a year ago, Mustangs appear to have goods to take care of unfinished business, even with totally rebuilt pitching staff; Oklahoma State-bound C Collin Theroux (.274-3-28) and UC Davis-bound SS Jacob Thomas (.261-0-22) are established everyday prospects, while two significant freshmen arms, UNLV-bound RHP Dean Kremer and LHP Cameron Avila-Leeper, will head up rotation.


8. Southern Nevada

Coyotes title hopes received significant shot in arm when ex-first-rounder Phil Bickford left Cal State Fullerton and transferred to CSN, where he'll front rotation with 97-mph fastball; RHP Gabe Gonzalez, a 13th-rounder a year ago, will also be key factor on mound, while Houston-bound 2B Tyler Brown (.348-1-26, 32 SB) and ex-Arizona OF Kenny Meimerstorf should key offense.


9. Chipola (Fla.)

SS Kevin Santa (.339-3-32) is Indians lone returnee of note, but team has star-quality freshmen talent with addition of LHP Mac Marshall, and OFs Reese Cooley and Isiah Gilliam (all potential Top-10 rounders in this year's draft); ex-Florida International 1B Gunnar McNeill headlines deep crop of 4-year transfers.


10. Grayson (Texas)

Vikings return Central Florida-bound OF Luke Hamblin (.370-1-38), Florida International-bound OF Zach Files (.383-5-42), but will benefit significantly by addition of 4-year transfers like C Tanner DeVinny (Kansas State), Niko Buentello (Oklahoma), addition of promising freshman RHPs Case Rolen, Kyle Weatherly.


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