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!
Below are the 2012 top returning baseball players from Illinois division III junior colleges.
Pitcher Dan Hoppel, Harper College, Dan went 0-1 with a 4.29 ERA in 42 innings last year.
Pitcher Scott Plaza, Harper College, Scott was 4-5 with a 4.62 ERA in 62 and 2/3rds innings in 2011.
Pitcher Trevor Vermillion, Joliet JC, Trevor was 6-3 with a 3.60 ERA in 30 innings last season.
Shortstop Cole Jule, Joliet JC, Cole hit .319 with 19 rbi's last year.
Outfielder Dan Eliopulos, Joliet JC, Dan hit .384 with 36 rbi's in 2011.
Outfielder Mark Kasper, Joliet JC, Mark hit .321 with 22 rbi's and 10 stolen bases last year.
Outfielder Trey Russel, Joliet JC, Trey hit .355 with a homer and 31 rbi's in 2011.
Catcher Ryan Burne, Rock Valley, Ryan hit .325 with a homer and 9 rbi's last year.
DH Ryan Scarpetta, Rock Valley, Ryan hit .330 with 4 homers and 18 rbi's in 2011.
Second baseman Mitch Schnulle, Waubonsee CC, Mitch hit .309 with 8 rbi's and 8 stolen bases last year.
With a 5-4 victory over Harper College on Monday Waubonsee Community College captured the Division III Region IV baseball championship and advances to the NJCAA Division III World Series in Tyler Texas May 22nd through May 28th.
Waubonsee will play their first game against Herkimer County Community College on Saturday May 22nd at 7:00 pm.
From Baseball in Illinois News Sources
The following is a list of Junior College Players to Watch for the 2010 Season. The list is comprised from Coaches and Scouts.
Left Handed Pitchers
Ben Ehgoetz - College of Lake County
Darin Worman - Parkland College
Ryan Rogers - Wabash Valley
Right Handed Pitchers
Matt Heaslip - Kankakee Community College
Zach Petrick - Joliet Junior College
Andrew Cebulla - Danville Area Community College
Danny Winkler - Parkland College
Eric Hillenbrand - Wabash Valley
Kevin LaPorta - Oakton Community College
Otto Roberts - Southwestern Illinois College
Patrick Flanagan - Rend Lake Community College
Robbie Wilson - College of Lake County
Ryan Holda - Oakton Community College
Anthony Campanella - Elgin Community College
Catchers
Jacob Rhodes - Wabash Valley
Marcos Penaloza - College of Lake County
Nate Reid - Kankakee Community College
Third Baseman
Michale Mosby - Wabash Valley
Mike Moore - Southwestern Illinois College
Patrick Foster - Danville Area Community College
Shortstops
Raymond Fuentes - Rend Lake Community College
Zack Deakin - Danville Area Community College
Corey Hodge - Elgin Community College
Outfielders
Kevin Kiermaier - Parkland College
Andy Dumscomb - Kankakee Community College
Denzele Denson - College of Lake County
Dan Scahill - Elgin Community College
Lukas Graves - Kankakee Community College
Mel Rojas - Wabash Valley
Zac Volland - Joliet Junior College
Designated Hitters
Bobby Hunter - Oakton Community College
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.
