As many of you, the opening weekend for the 2021 Junior College season was this past weekend. Although there were not many games to cover the entire country but we are going to give a quick recap of what happened from the nations top teams as well many that do not generally get the same love as some of the top schools.
Also this is the first week that we are not having a National Top 25. Even though we have had one every week since we started producing Junior College content we felt that with the slow start to the year and teams slowly getting back going we will give it a few weeks before we adjust anything as far as the National Rankings.
The top 5 teams (#1 Southern Nevada, #2 Wabash Valley, #3 McLennan, #4 John A. Logan, and #5 Walters State) did not play this weekend.
#6 Northwest Florida went 1-2 this past weekend with losses to both Miami Dade (12-5), and #15 Florida SouthWestern State (5-1), With a win over Hillsborough (12-5).
#7 Grayson played a 3 game set with Wharton and if you have listened to the most recent Juco Pod, then you know what happened in game 1 with a 20-6 Win. The next day during their double header they split the double header with a win in game one (9-5) and a loss in game two (4-7).
The next two teams in the top 10 did not play either (#8 Iowa Western and #9 Johnson County)
Rounding out the Top 10 is San Jac. They played a 4 game series with Baton Rouge. They went 3-1 on the weekend (6-1, 8-4, 4-7, and 16-10)
Teams of The Week
Here is a look at the teams that made the biggest moves or had huge weeks as a team for each division
Div 1: St. Petersburg (3-0)
Throughout this past weekend you could say this was one of the biggest surprises when we were looking at all the box scores. That to be said is not a dis by any means to St. Petersburg. They are always well coached, and are almost always a solid team. But, just like any team in florida they get overshadowed.
To kick off this weekend with two games Friday. The first was against Pensacola State. They won 8-7 in 7 innings behind the bats of Brayron Acevedo (1-4, HR RBI) and Zeph Hoffpauir (2-4, HR, 3 RBI).
In game two they took the win from #12 Chipola in a 6-4 contest. They were led by a solid team offensive game. The big key was Leo O’Shinkski in relief. He came in in the 5th and locked down Chipola with 3 innings allowing just 3 base runners (1 Hit, 2 Walks) to go with 6 K’s to keep them at bay.
To round out the weekend they won in a decisive manner against Sante Fe 8-1. Gabriel Ricones had a day going 3-4 with Homer, 2 RBI, and 2 runs.
Other Notable Weeks:
Central Florida (3-0)- Wins vs Pasco Hernando (23-1), #15 Florida SouthWestern State (11-7), Miami Dade (8-7)
Indian Rivers State (3-0)- Wins vs #21 State College of Florida (12-11), Santa Fe (12-8), Palm Beach State (6-2)
Players of the Week
This is a quick look at some of the top 4-5 weeks as both Hitters and Pitchers across the country.