2018 Preseason JUCO Top 25

Photo: San Jac Athletics

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Junior College baseball, at any level, across the country, often comes down to pitching depth. You don't neccesarily need to have a star ace to lead the staff, but you'd better have near double digit arms to weather the storm across a long, 60-plus game season if you expect to win the JUCO World Series. Last season, Chipola went wire-to-wire as the No. 1, and had a ridiculous 10 players drafted off of that club, led by Evan Steele and Reynaldo Rivera. They had depth everywhere, not just on the mound, as their offense as a whole was among the best in baseball.

This year, San Jacinto enters the season at No. 1, and the depth, at least on paper, looks impressive. We may never see a team as loaded as Chipola was last year ever again, but San Jac looks like they might get close, loaded with talent in the staff and with the bats, and they're the preseason pick to win the NJCAA World Series.

San Jac is no stranger to success, accolades or press. Head coach Tom Arrington, who has amassed a record of 742-298 in his 17 seasons at the helm, will be inducted into NJCAA Baseball Hall of Fame this season. For the math-savvy, 742 wins across 17 seasons comes out to roughly 43-44 wins per season. If you win 44 games in a season your program had an extremely good year … Coach Arrington has averaged that.

San Jac is always loaded with prospects, both from an MLB Draft and four-year college perspective, and this year is no exception, as they place many of their players in the Perfect Game Junior College top prospect list. Sergio Macias, Herbert Iser, Jacob Cantleberry, Alerick Soularie and Matt Goodheart are just five names within the top 60 (out of 150, to be released on Friday) or so, with many more to come.

The Gators have a long track record of success under Tom Arrington, appearing in 10 NJCAA World Series since Arrington took over prior to the 2001 season, reaching the final game five times in that stretch, but falling short each time. They've been the bridesmaid several times recently; is 2018 the year they break the streak?

2018 Preseason Junior College Top 25

Rk.	Team	ST	'17 Record	'17 Rk.
1	San Jacinto	TX	48-18	2
2	Chipola	FL	51-9	1
3	Walters State	TN	44-12	NR
4	Southern Nevada	NV	45-18	19
5	McLennan	TX	52-13	8
6	Crowder	MO	54-14	9
7	Central Arizona	AZ	42-23	NR
8	Northwest Florida State	FL	34-17	NR
9	Howard	TX	36-21	NR
10	Wallace-Dothan	AL	43-21	11
11	San Joaquin Delta	CA	36-11	23
12	Yavapai	AZ	34-22	NR
13	Connors State	OK	48-12	NR
14	Cowley County	KS	45-18	4
15	Santa Fe	FL	38-13	24
16	Florence Darlington	SC	42-19	16
17	Jones County	MS	46-4	NR
18	Iowa Western	IA	44-16	22
19	Grayson	TX	37-14	25
20	Santa Rosa	CA	36-11	7
21	State College of Florida	FL	34-22	NR
22	Hutchinson	KS	47-13	NR
23	Jefferson College	MO	45-14	NR
24	Weatherford	TX	35-23	NR
25	Harford	MD	51-10	NR