The Western Nebraska Community College baseball team will be looking to move onto the NJCAA Junior College World Series when they open the Western District tournament which begfins Thursday in Prescott, Arizona
The Cougars earned the right to play in the district after capturing their second Region IX title with a 4-3 win over Southeast Community College on Saturday. It will be the Cougars third appearance in districts as they hosted the 2007 districts when they last won the regional title and they competed in the 2010 districts as the runner-ups at the Region IX tournament.
WNCC players Jack Jones and Caleb Coats said this team has all the talent and potential to bring up a district title as well.
"We just have to keep doing what we are doing, playing as a team," Jones said. "I think we did a good job playing as a team during the regional tournament and if we do that, I think we will be good."
Coats said they need that same energy they had at regionals to come away with wins at districts.
"Honestly, we have to come out with that same fuel that we had going into Colorado Springs thinking that nobody can beat us," he said. "We proved that even though they were tough games. Even when we were down, we always came back; we kept fighting."
WNCC will open the district tournament on Thursday at 12 noon Scottsbluff time (11 a.m. Arizona time) when they face the defending national champions Central Arizona College. Central Arizona enters with a 45-7 record and a No. 7 ranking in the national polls. The other district game will pit No. 13 College of Southern Nevada against No. 18 Yavapai College.
WNCC enters with a 26-27 after capturing the Region IX tournament in three straight games, topping the No. 1 seeds from both the South and North divisions. WNCC stopped Southeast in the first game 6-3 and then beat the Storm 4-3 in the championship. WNCC defeated Lamar 12-10 in a game that saw the Cougars score eight, 9th-inning runs for the win.
"Obviously, they are a really good team and they have a lot of hype around them, but I think we match up pretty well," Jones said. "If we play our best baseball I think we have a shot."
Coats said when they go into the district finals, they are just going to keep playing how they did at regionals.
"We are not going to change a thing," Coats said. "We are going to play our ball game and they are going to play their ball game. It will be a heck of a game and I can't wait to play them."
Central Arizona will be entering on a 2-game losing streak after falling to Yavapai College twice, 6-4 and 10-6 in the regional tournament. Before that, Central Arizona won seven straight.
The Vaqueros have 11 players hitting above .300 for the season. Dayton Dooney leads the team at .361. Dooney has 14 doubles, four triples, seven home runs, 50 RBIs, and 31 runs scored. Devon Dixon is next with a .353 average with four home runs, followed by Tyler Griggs at .346.
JD McLaughlin leads the team in home runs with 11 round trippers along with a .345 batting average, 11 doubles, eight triples, 54 RBIs, and 63 runs scored.
WNCC's offensive numbers are just as impressive. The Cougars have eight players with an average above 300. Mikey Felton leads the way with a .402 average, which includes 12 doubles, two triples, four home runs, 41 RBIs, and 48 runs scored. Jayden Orozco, who was named the Region IX Player of the Week, is next with a .380 average with nine home runs and 11 doubles. Luis Alcantara it third at .355. Alcantara has six home runs with 47 RBIs.
Joey Olson and Jordan Rollins lead the team in home runs with 10 each. Olson also had a .331 batting average with 12 doubles, 49 RBIs, and 42 runs scored. Rollins is batting .324 with 15 doubles, 50 RBIs, and 44 runs scored.
Pitching staff has been doing well lately. Paul Panduro is 7-5 on the season and leads the team 86 strikeouts. Panduro has a 7.69 ERA. Panduro also needs two strikeouts to collect his 100th career strikeout at WNCC.
Owen Vanthillo leads the team in ERA with a 4.22 mark. Vanthillo has seven saves out of the bullpen with 29 strikeouts. Dawson Hurford, who got the win against Lamar, has a 6.92 ERA with 46 strikeouts.
Trent Richter is another starter that has come on strong with an ERA of 7.32 and 47 strikeouts. Harold Baez is another pitcher that has started and been a closer. Baez picked up two saves in the regional tournament and was named the Region IX Pitcher of the Week. Baez has a 7.50 ERA with 49 strikeouts.
WNCC's team ERA is 8.60 while Central Arizona comes in with a solid 3.37 ERA. The Vaqueros are led by Mat Olsen with a 1.78 ERA with 115 strikeouts and a perfect 10-0 record this season. DJ Carpenter is right behind at 2.45 followed by Hunter Omlid at 2.77 and 82 strikeouts.
The players know they have to play some of their best ball and right now, that is what they are doing.
"Everyone is stepping up huge," Jones said. "The pitching is doing really well, we are playing really good defense, and the offense will pick it up here soon. I think we are in a really good spot as a team."
Winning that regional tournament has been a big lift for the team in momentum.
"It [winning regionals] was huge for us," Jones said. "We were the underdog going in and we knew that. We knew that if we played as a team, we could come out in a really good spot and sure enough we did."
WNCC will definitely be the underdog entering the district tournament. All three opponents have won national tournaments in the past. Central Arizona captured titles in 2019, 2002, and 1976; Yavapai won in 2016, 1993, 1977, 1975; and Southern Nevada won in 2003.
WNCC doesn't just want to finish the season at districts, they have loftier goals and that is winning districts and making the JUCO World Series that will be played in Grand Junction, Colorado, May 29 through June 5.
"We are all stoked [that we won regionals]," Coats said. "We can't wait to get to the district finals. Everybody is excited that we won our regional championship and we are just trying to get to our next goal. We will see what happens here. I know we are going there to win a title, but at the same time me and a bunch of my dudes, want to go there and have fun and make more memories for ourselves. If we get to Grand Junction, that is another milestone for us in our baseball careers. I think this team has potential to do it."