For those who do not know in the State of Oklahoma, there are 5 huge sporting events every year. The first being the Red River game between OU and Texas. Second, is anytime there is a Bedlam (OU vs OSU) series/game in any sport. The third is the Annual Indian Tribes Softball Tournament in Oklahoma City. Fourth the Women’s Division 1 College World Series. And, Fifth is the Division 2 Junior College World Series that takes place in Enid.
This years field is a perfect storm of Power, Speed, Pitching, and Grit. From teams with National Championships to teams in just their Second full season of having a college program. This year’s tournament should be just as good as any of them.
Below we take a look at how each team got to Enid as well as a quick preview of their team as a whole.
#15 Lincoln Land (37-16)
Lincoln Land swept their way through the Region 24 Tournament beating Illinois Central (10-8), Parkland (2-0), Danville Area (10-3), and Parkland again in the Title game (9-5).
Offensively they are led by Talon File, Cole Greer, and Andy Lopez. File is hitting .315 with a team-leading 14 Doubles, 3 Triples, 10 Home Runs, 50 RBI’s and 46 Runs. Greer is hitting .348 with just 6 Doubles, 3 Triples, 18 RBI, 43 RUns, and 19 Stolen Bases. Lopez rounds them out hitting .278 with 12 Doubles, A Triple, Home Run, 38 RBI’s, and 27 Runs.
On the mound, they have been lead by the duo of Spencer Walker (8-0, 1.14 ERA), and TJ Painter (8-2, 3.50 ERA)
#11 Kellogg (39-13)
Since the post-season has started Kellogg has not lost and has won by an average margin of just over 5 runs. They took the MCCAA Championship with a 4-2 win over Lansing. Then swept through Region 6 beating Mott (12-0), Lansing (14-4), and Cuyahoga Twice (13-3, 7-3).
Leading them offensively this season has been Spencer Nelson, Brandon Haynes, and Adam Henderson. Nelson is hitting .393 with a team-leading 15 doubles, 5 Triples, 4 Home Runs, 50 RBI’s, 58 Runs, and 18 Stolen Bases. Haynes is hitting .385 with 13 Doubles, 2 Triples, a Home Run, 35 RBI’s, 44 Runs, and 15 Stolen Bases. Henderson rounds out the trio leading the team with a .480 average (2nd), a .566 On Base % (6th), and a .843 Slugging % (10th). He also has 15 Doubles, 2 Triples, 9 Home Runs, 57 RBI’s and 60 Runs.
On the mound, they are lead by Derrick Edington (9-2, 2.24 ERA), and Connor Brawley (6-2, 2.37 ERA).
#5 Madison (40-9)
Madison is riding an 11 game win streak into Enid, and since the Post-Season has started they have outscored their opponents 48-12. The Beat Morton twice (8-0, 11-1) in their sectional series, and then beat Moraine Valley (11-5), McHenry County (9-6), and Black Hawk-Moline (9-0) to Claim the Region 4 Title.
Offensively this season they have been lead by Nick Gile, Nathan Aide, and Walker Jenkins. Giles leads the team hitting .436 with 21 Doubles (6th), 2 Triples, 6 Home Runs, 51 RBI’s and 50 Runs. Aide is hitting .368 with 12 Doubles, 3 Triples, 2 Home Runs, 35 RBI’s, and 31 Runs. Jenkins is hitting .345 with 7 Doubles, 3 Triples, 28 RBI’s, 56 Runs, and 27 Stolen Bases.
On the mound for them this season they have been lead by Matt Hamilton (10-0, 2.03 ERA), Troy Hickey (5-1, 2.86 ERA), and Patrick Foldy (6-1, 1.31 ERA).
#1 Pearl River (40-12)
Pearl River without a doubt had the toughest road to Enid out of any of the teams that will be there. To get out of their region they had to make it through what some call the SEC of Junior College Baseball. Starting with their play in series against East Central they took it 2-1 (4-3,=0-1, 12-4) before getting to the Regional 24 Tournament where they beat 4 National Ranked Teams, Jones (4-2), Northwest Mississippi (12-11), Itawamba (21-13), and LSU-Eunice (11-2), in order to punch their ticket to Enid.
They are one of the Top Offensive teams in the country this season. They are ranked 8th in Runs (471), 7th in RBI’s (423), 5th in Slugging % (569), 3rd in Doubles (132), and 2nd in Home Runs (87), Extra Base Hits (233), and Total Bases (946).
Leading that offensive attack this season has been Dexter Jordan, Wiley Cleland (UL-Monroe), and Austin Izzio. Jordan is hitting .297 with 15 Doubles, 1 Triple, 18 Home Runs (4th), 65 RBI’s (8th), and 49 Runs. Cleland is hitting .338 with 19 Doubles, 2 Triples, 11 Home Runs, 52 RBIs, and 55 Runs. Izzio rounds out the trio hitting .345 with 15 Double, 4 Triples, 9 Home Runs, 44 RBI’s and 57 Runs.
On the mound this season they have been lead by Miles Smith (South Alabama) (8-3, 2.72 ERA), Shemar Page (LA Tech) (7-1, 2.88 ERA), and Colin Danley (Southeastern Louisiana) (9-3, 4.80 ERA)
#19 Mesa (40-21)
When you first look at Mesa you might wonder about their record, but one thing you need to take into account with them is that they play almost an entire Division 1 schedule in Arizona and they also play with wood bats. To get to Enid they Swept their opening series against Glendale (11-2, 4-1), before taking 2 of 3 from GateWay (3-0, 7-10, 8-7) to Claim the Region 1 Title.
Leading their offense this season has been Luke Patty, Connor Denning, and Ben Ferguson. Patty is leading the team hitting .358 with 14 Doubles, 3 Triples, 3 Home Runs, 45 RBI’s and 43 Runs. Dennings is hitting .302 with 11 Doubles, 8 Triples (3rd), 40 RBI’s, 50 Runs, and 15 Stolen Bases. Ferguson is hitting .306 with 6 Doubles, 2 Home Runs, 34 RBI’s, and 22 Runs.
One thing that is different about Mesa is that one if not their biggest strength is there pitching staff. They are Ranked 3rd in Innings Pitched (494.1), 5th in Strikeouts (501), and 8th in ERA (3.57).
Leading their pitching staff this season has been Carter Robinson (8-3, 1.41 ERA), and Jake Denham (7-3, 2.32 ERA).
#24 Monroe (29-19)
Monroe is one of 2 teams making consecutive Trips to the Enid. They are riding a 9 Game win-streak which dates back to before the postseason began. Once the Post-Season began however they kicked it into gear putting up a +49 run differential by way of a 21-5 win over UConn Avery Point, 15-7 win over Mercyhurst North East, and then a 20-11 and 6-0 wins over Ulster County.
Monroe has been led offensively this season by the trio of Sean Flannery, Cas Sobaszek, and Phil Ferranti. Flannery is hitting .364 with 5 doubles, 4 Triples, 1 Home Run, 30 RBI’s 39 Runs, and 24 Stolen Bases. Sobaszek is hitting .359 with 1 Doubles, 6 Triples (10th), 30 RBI’s, 56 Runs, and 25 Stolen Bases. Ferranti rounds out the trio hitting .331 with 20 Doubles (10th), 3 Triples, 2 Home Runs, 43 RBI’s, and 46 Runs.
On the mound for them this season they have been lead by Matt Petrossi (5-3, 3.28 ERAS), and Chris LeVere (4-5, 5.05 ERA).
#12 Northeast (32-18)
In only their second ever season of having a baseball team, Northeast is making their first trip to Enid. After losing their first game of the postseason they have rattled off 7 straight wins to punch that ticket. They started with a loss to Kirkwood (3-5), and then beat Des Moines Area (8-3), Kirkwood (7-4), Southeastern twice (4-3, 5-3) to claim their first ever Region 11 Title. Took both games from Miles (11-4, 8-4) to Claim their first ever District title.
Leading their offense this season has been the trio of Drew Smith (Grand Canyon), Christian Dumont (Houston Baptist), and Jayden Sinju. Smith leads the team hitting .438 (11th) with a .846 Slugging % (8th). To go with that he has 18 Doubles, 3 Triples, 15 Home Runs (9th), 55 RBI’s, 52 Runs, and 143 Total Bases (7th). Dumont is hitting .335 with 14 Doubles, 1 Triple, 6 Home Runs, 32 RBI’s and 64 Runs. Sinju rounds out the trio hitting .319 with 11 Doubles, 8 Home Runs, 32 RBI’s and 27 Runs.
On the mound, they have been anchored by the starting Pitcher Duo of Cam Taylor (9-2, 3.96 ERA), and Andrew Shaw (9-3, 3.69 ERA). The lefty duo has combined for 136 Innings with 148 Strikeouts.
#16 Lackawanna (32-15)
Lackawanna is making the trip to Enid after falling just short of the regional crown last year. They swept their way through the region 19 playoffs this here beating Mercer (6-3), Morris (10-4), and Mercer again in the Championship (9-2). Then they won 2 of 3 against Fredrick (7-0, 5-19, 14-8) to claim the Northeast District Title.
This season they of been lead on the offensive side by the trio of Zach Granger (Akron), Jerry Reinhart (Akron), and Thylar Summarell (SFA). Granger is hitting .373 with 4 Doubles, 2 Triples, 7 Home Runs, 40 RBI’s and 44 Runs. Reinhart leads the team hitting .387 with 16 Doubles, 2 Doubles, 3 Triples, 28 RBI’s, 46 Runs, and 31 Stolen Bases. Summarell is hitting .341 with 13 Doubles, 1 Triple, 13 Home Runs, 60 RBI’s, and 41 Runs.
Leading them on the mound this season has been Nathan McLain (7-2, 4 CG, 4.50 ERA), and Dominic Verrastro (6-0, 2.57 ERA)
#2 NOC-Enid (38-17)
The host team makes it back for the second consecutive trip to the World Series. Enid had to battle back through the losers bracket to claim their second consecutive Region Title. They won their first game against Murray State (10-6) before losing to Carl Albert (8-0). After that, they rattled off 4 straight wins against Western Oklahoma (9-6), Carl Albert (6-5), and two against Redlands (12-11, 13-3).
Enid has been another one of the top offensive teams in the country. They are ranked 10th in Runs (447), and RBI’s (381), 8th in Total Bases (876), 6th in Doubles (116) and Extra Base Hits (200), and 4th in Home Runs (71).
Leading that offense this season has been the combination of Alec Buonasera, Tanner Neely, and EJ Taylor. Buonasera is leading the team hitting .410, with 11 Doubles, 1 Triple, 5 Home Runs, 35 RBI’s and 28 Runs. Neely is hitting .281 with 12 Doubles, 12 Home Runs, 52 RBI’s and 37 Runs. While Taylor rounds out the trio with .335 with 11 Doubles, 12 Home Runs, 45 RBI’s, 59 Runs, and 12 Stolen Bases.
On the mound for them this season they have been lead by Kaleb McCullough (Oral Roberts) (8-1, 5.02 ERA) and Jarrett Sweeney (7-3, 5.34 ERA) as their go-to starters with Lawson Isaacs (2-1, 3 SV, 4.74 ERA) being one their top go-to guys out of the pen.
#20 Pasco-Hernando State (31-23)
Pasco-Hernando is a lot like Mesa when it comes to their schedule. They are one of two Division 2 schools in the state of Florida, so their schedule is almost entirely made up of some of the top Division 1 schools in the country. To get to Enid riding a 6 game win streak, and are 8-1 since the post-season has begun. They started with a 2-game sweep of ASA Miami (6-1, 6-5) to claim the Region 8 Crown. When they got to the Southeast District Tournament they lost their first game against Pitt (13-8) before rattling off 6 wins to go through the losers bracket to claim the District Title. They beat Wake Tech (7-6), Southeastern-Whiteville (12-8), Paul D. Camp (10-5), Pitt (8-0), and then Brunswick twice (5-2, 6-1) to claim the Title.
What makes Pasco-Hernando different then most teams this year is that they like to use their base running to get things done. They are Ranked 4th in the country in Stolen Bases (181). And have a success rate of 84%.
Lead what some might call “The Green Light Special” style of play this season has been the trio of Jermaine White, Michael Haydak, and Brayden Lyman. White is hitting .258 with 7 Doubles, a Triple, 22 RBI’s, 51 Runs, and 37 Stolen Bases (8th) with an 88% success rate. Haydak is hitting .290 with 11 Doubles, 2 Triples, 42 RBI’s, 42 Runs, and 33 Stolen Bases (13th) with an 83% success rate. Lyman rounds out the trio hitting .302 with 20 Doubles (9th), 1 Triple, 5 Home Runs, 42 RBI’s, 49 Runs, and 26 Stolen Bases with perfect 100% Success rate.
On the mound, their two go two arms this season has been Sean Osceola (8-6, 3.13 ERA), and Kyle Khachadourian (6-2, 2.10 ERA).