Surprising Finishes Highlight
Final Ranking of JC Teams

Central Alabama defeated Palm Beach (Fla.) State 7-3 on June 1 in the Junior College World Series championship game, completing one of the more improbable seasons at the junior-college level.

Not only were the two finalists unranked in Perfect Game’s pre-season ranking of the nation’s Top 50 JC teams, but Central Alabama began the 2013 season with six straight losses before closing with a 31-4 rush, including 16 straight wins that pushed the school to the brink of its first national title. Palm Beach finished a distant second in its own conference during regular-season play, before putting on its own finishing kick only to fall a step short in its first Junior College World Series appearance.

Meanwhile, Central Arizona, which was ranked No. 1 by PG at the outset of the junior-college season, was never a factor in tournament play as it failed to win even a post-season game. Navarro (Texas) and Connors State (Okla.), which began World Series play ranked Nos. 1-2 nationally, both went just 1-2 at the 10-team tournament, played in Grand Junction, Colo.

With its unexpected triumph, Central Alabama (43-14) finished No. 1 in PG’s final ranking of the nation’s top junior-college teams. Palm Beach State (42-21) came in at No. 6.

The two teams met three times altogether at the Junior College World Series, with Central Alabama opening and closing the tournament with wins over Palm Beach State. Freshman righthander Paul Young, who was primarily an outfielder this season for the Trojans and started only five games altogether on the mound, went the distance in the deciding tilt, scattering seven hits while striking out five. He also won an earlier start in the tournament for the Trojans, and with a fastball in the low- to mid-90s may have improved his stock significantly in this week’s first-year player draft.

Meanwhile, Oklahoma’s Murray State was an improbable winner in the National Junior College Division II World Series, beating four-time national champion LSU-Eunice, 4-3, in the championship game. It was the first national championship of any kind for Murray State (46-22).

Oddly, Oklahoma’s Murray State had suffered its worst loss of the 2013 season to LSU-Eunice, a 26-3 drubbing back in February, with freshman righthander Brad Horn surrendering nine runs in an abbreviated start. With redemption at hand in the D-II championship game, Horn fired a complete-game win against the heavily-favored Bengals (52-10), allowing seven hits and two walks while striking out six.

With the win, Murray State went from unranked entering the D-II World Series to a final ranking of No. 20, while LSU-Eunice slipped from No. 3 to No. 8.

If upsets characterized play at the Division I and II levels, form definitely held in the NJCAA Division III ranks as New Jersey’s Gloucester County won four straight games to capture its seventh national title. The Roadrunners convincingly beat Century (Minn.) 16-4 in the final to stretch its record on the season to a gaudy 49-3—easily the best in the country. They were ranked No. 12 to close the season.

Washington’s Everett Community College also won as expected, beating defending champion Pierce College, 4-1, in the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges championship game. The Trojans (39-9) improved to a final ranking of No. 13.

NWAACC (Oregon and Washington) and California junior colleges are not members of the NJCAA. Earlier, Cypress (32-14) won the California JC title in an upset to finish at No. 18 in Perfect Game’s Top 50.