Joliet Junior College Wins 2012 NJCAA Division III World Series

Joliet Junior College captured it's third national baseball championship defeating Niagara County Community College 6-5 in ten innings yesterday in Tyler, Texas.

Niagara took a one run lead scoring two in the top of the ninth inning with a walk, a sac bunt, a single and a double.  Joliet tied the game up in the bottom of the ninth on an error by the Niagara second baseman.  Dakota Brown's triple in the bottom of the 10th inning drove in Cole Judy for the winning run.

Joliet went undefeated in the Championship Series with a perfect 4-0 record.

Luke Andrade was named the tournament Most Valuable Player and Trevor Vermillian, Casey Papp and Dan Eliopulos made the All-Tournament Team.

Congratulations to Joliet JC!

Joliet's King Get his 900th Career Baseball Victory

King receives the game ball for his 900thWin

Joliet Junior College baseball coach Wayne King Jr. reached his 900th career victory on April 11th, 2012 when the Wolves defeated Harper College 12-4.

King has been at Joliet for 26 seasons at Joliet Junior College and has made 10 appearances at the NJCAA Division III World Series.  King's 1994 and 2008 teams won National Championships.

Congratulations Wayne!

Another New Baseball Team in the Midwest Collegiate League....Joliet

The Midwest Collegiate League has another new team for the 2012 summer season, Joliet.  The Midwest Collegiate League announced the club will be owned by Eloot Sports and Entertainment, same organization that owns the Will County CrackerJacks, which is Jamie Toole.  Toole was the GM for the now defunct Joliet JackHammers.

The Joliet club will announce their name this month and have reported the signing of three players so far.  Joliet will play their games at Joliet Junior College.

Joliet Junior College Baseball Eliminated from NJCAA World Series

The Joliet Junior College Baseball team was eliminated from the division III NJCAA World Series in Tyler Texas yesterday losing 5-3 to Eastfield College out of Texas.


The Wolves won their opening round game 7-4 over Westmoreland PA on Saturday, lost their second on Sunday 7-3 to Gloucester N.J. and were eliminated on Monday by Eastfield.

Joliet Junior College Baseball Moves on to the NJCAA Division III World Series

Joliet Junior College is headed to the NJCAA Division III World Series and fighting for their 3rd National Championship in Tyler Texas this weekend.

Joliet earned their bid by defeating Waubonsee Community College 11-10 on May 15th.  The Wolves (39-21) will face Westmoreland County Community College PA at 12:00 pm on May 21st. 

Top 10 Returning 2011 NJCAA Baseball Division III Pitchers from Illinois Teams

Listed are the top returning pitchers for NJCAA Division III baseball teams in Illinois in 2011.  The list is sorted by 2010 earned run average and pitchers must have a minimum of 15 innings last season.

Top Returning Pitchers:

1. Cory Walden, Waubonsee Community College, 2-0 record, 2.97 ERA, 33 strikeouts in 33 1/3rd innings.  Cory is from West Aurora High School and also plays 1B.

2. Chris Holke, Harper Community College, 3-3 record, 4.07 ERA in 31 innings pitched last season.  Chris is from Barrington High School and is listed also as a catcher.

3. Ethan Johnson, Joliet Junior College, 0-0 record, 4.79 ERA in 20 2/3rd's innings.  Ethan is from Plainfield North High School.

4. Dan Okapal, Waubonsee Community College, 3-2 record, 5.05 ERA in 46 1/3rd innings last season.  Dan is from East Aurora High School.

5. Tyler Lobdell, Waubonsee Community College, 1-2 record, 6.04 ERA, 29 K's in 25 1/3rd innings.  Tyler is from Plano High School.

6. Brett Evak, Joliet Junior College, 4-2 record, 6.34 ERA, 27 K's in 32 2/3rd's innings pitched.  Brett is from Plainfield North High School.

7. Kenny Litrenta, Waubonsee Community College, 4-3 record, 6.51 ERA, 37 strikeouts in 47 innings pitched.  Kenny is from Aurora Central Catholic High School.

8. Steven County, Rock Valley College, 2-1 record, 6.66 ERA in 24 1/3rd innings pitched last season.  Steven is from South Beloit High School.

9. Luke Gilbertson, Waubonsee Community College, 3-3 record, 7.64 ERA in 33 innings last year.  Luke is from Yorkville High School.

10.  Jesse Pena, Waubonsee Community College, 2-2 record, 7.92 ERA, 30 K's in 30 2/3rd's innings last season.  Jesse is from West Aurora High School.

2011 NJCAA Pre-Season Baseball Rankings Released

The NJCAA, along with Perfect Game, has released it's the 2011 Baseball Pre-Season Rankings for each division.  Listed below are the ranked teams from Illinois.

Division I:

#24. Wabash Valley College

Others receiving votes - John A. Logan College

Division II:

#1.  Heartland Community College
#5.  Parkland College

Others receiving votes - Kankakee Community College

Division III:

#3.  Joliet Junior College

Others receiving votes - Waubonsee Community College

To view the entire lists, you can click on the link below.

2011 NJCAA Baseball Pre-Season Rankings

Division II Pre-Season All-Americans

From Baseball in Illinois News Sources

The American Baseball Coaches Association has picked the 2010 pre-season all-americans for Division II.  Following are the players in the midwest region that are from Illinois:

Pre-Season All-Americans - Midwest Region
SS Sean Estand - St. Joseph's in Indiana - Sean graduated from St. Rita High School and lives in Evergreen Park, Illinois.

Players to Watch - Midwest Region
P Joe Scumaci - Lewis University in Romeoville, Illinois - Joe graduated from St. Laurence High School, attended Trition College and lives in Chicago, Illinois.

P/1B - Tyler Choate - Southern Indiana - Tyler graduated from Carmi-White High School and lives in Carmi, Illinois.

OF - Nate Weglarz - St. Joseph's in Indiana - Nate graduated from Homewood Flossmor High School, attended Parkland College and lives in Homewood, Illinois.

DH/INF - Brett Zurliene - Quincy University in Quincy, Illinois - Brett graduated from Breese Central High School, attended Kaskaskia Community College and lives in Aviston, Illinois.

Newcomers to Watch
P Matt Frahm - Lewis University in Romeoville, Illinois - Matt graduated from Olympia High School and lives in McLean, Illinois.

P Steve Styck - St. Joseph's in Indiana - Steve graduated from Herscher High School, attended Joliet Junior College and lives in Kankakee, Illinois.

P Mike Mueller - Qunicy University in Quincy, Illinois - Mike attended Southwestern Illinois College and lives in Belleville, Illinois.

Joliet Junior College Ranked 3rd in Pre-Season Poll

From Baseball in Illinois News Source

Joliet Junior College begin the 2010 season ranked third in the NJCAA Baseball Coaches Association Pre-Season Poll.  The Wolves rolled to a 41-16 record last season and return four starting position players and seven quality pitchers. 

One Key pitcher is RHP Zach Petrick who went 9-4, 2.85 ERA with 96 strikeouts.  Zach has been clocked at 89-90 on the mound with his fastball and also diaplays an excellent curveball.

JJC hurler Patrick Murray added to RMU Nine for 2011 season!

Chicago, IL - Robert Morris University Coach Mike Kashirsky continues to reap the fertile fields of the outstanding baseball program at Joliet Junior College (IL) for recruits, signing right-handed pitcher Patrick Murray to a letter of intent for the 2010-2011 season.


The son of Michael and Judy Murray of Shorewood, IL, Patrick was a member of JJC Coach Wayne King, Jr.'s 2009 National Junior College Athletic Association Division III World Series team. Pat went 8 2/3 innings for the win in the NJCAA regional championship game, catapulting the Wolves into the World Series where they finished fourth. The newest Eagle was 5-1 for JJC as a freshman, including a win in the NJCAA World Series.

Pat was a standout at Joliet West High School for Coach Terry Piazza. He also played basketball for the Steelmen during his prep career.

"Pat has a chance to be a #1 pitcher for us," says Coach Kashirsky. "He has developed a great deal over his final year in high school and his first season in junior college. We got a prime-time pitcher today."