LSU - Eunice Top NJCAA DII Preseason Baseball Rankings
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Jan. 29, 2010) - Louisiana State University - Eunice tops the 2010 NJCAA Division II baseball preseason Top 15. The Bengals are followed by Heartland Community College (Ill.), Des Moines Area Community College (Iowa), Western Oklahoma State College and defending national champion Parkland College (Ill.).
In all, eight of the 10 teams that participated at the 2009 NJCAA DII JUCO World Series appear in the 2010 preseason rankings.
LSU - Eunice claims the No. 1 spot in the preseason poll for the first time since entering the 2007 season. The Bengals entered both the 2008 and 2009 seasons ranked second. Head coach Jeff Willis has led LSUE to two national titles (2006, 2008) and four national tournament appearances (2004, 06, 08. 09). The Bengals advanced to the semi-finals of last year's World Series before falling to Scottsdale (Ariz.).
The Bengals return six starters and eight total players from last year's club. Leading the way is infielder Gabe Thibodeaux (6-1, 225 lbs.) who earned All-Tournament honors last year in Enid, Okla. He posted a .413 batting average in '09 with eight homeruns, 72 RBI and six stolen bases. Also returning is outfielder/first baseman Les Aulds who hit .411 last season and knocked in 62 runs.
On the mound Willis gets back 2009 NJCAA Second-Team All-American Chance Mistric. The six-four, 215 pound Port Barre, La., native led the DII ranks a year ago with 15 wins and was credited with just one loss. He posted a 3.49 ERA while striking out 96 batters and walked just 29 in 105 innings of work. The Bengals staff this year will also include Tony Dischler - a transfer from Louisiana-Monroe. Dischler is one of just six NJCAA baseball players projected to be a top round draft pick this June by Collegiate Baseball.
The Bengals are also ranked eighth among all two-year college baseball programs in the United States (all divisions of NJCAA, Calif. and NWACC) in Perfect Game USA's preseason JUCO Top 50.
Heartland enters the 2010 season with plenty of returning players (12) off last year's club that posted a 42-9 record and finished second in Region 24 behind eventual national champion Parkland. Eric Aguilera (OF, 6-2, 210 lbs.) and Bryan Hoft (SS, 5-9, 165 lbs.) were both all-conference performers last year. Aguilera drove in 59 runs and had 11 homeruns while hitting .442. Hoft posted a .382 batting clip and swiped 17 bases.
Hawks head coach Nate Metzger also has two experienced pitchers returning in Dillon Napoleon (6-4, 210 lbs.) and Jon Weaver (6-3, 200 lbs.). Napoleon went 7-1 last year with a 2.61 ERA and had 64 strikeouts and 17 walks in 44 innings on the hill. Weaver, the 510th overall draft pick in 2008 by the Chicago White Sox, posted decent numbers (8 ER, 12K, 8 BB, 2-1, 4.15 ERA) in just 17 innings of action.
Heartland also enters the 2009 season ranked 22nd in Perfect Game USA's preseason JUCO Top 50.
Des Moines Area is coming off its second consecutive trip to the DII national tournament. The Bears were the preseason favorites last year and were ranked No. 1 in the first regular season poll of 2009 and posted a 55-11 record. However, DMACC came up short in Enid, going 1-2 at the event.
Bears head coach Dan Fitzgerald welcomes back 15 players from last year's roster, including third baseman Joel Hutter and shortstop Brashad Johnson. The duo combined for 139 RBI last season and 18 home runs. Hutter posted a .385 batting average and stole 14 bases while Johnson hit .352 last year.
DMACC's pitching rotation will start with George Jensen (6-4, 210 lbs.) who went 4-1 last year with 35 strikeouts and just eight walks in 33 innings.
The Bears check in at No. 23 in Perfect Game USA's preseason JUCO Top 50.
Western Oklahoma State is also coming off its second straight trip to the DII World Series. The Pioneers set a school record for wins (53) last season while leading the nation in team batting average (.402).
WOSC head coach Kurt Russell gets back 2009 NJCAA Second-Team All-American Randolph Oduber in addition to a pair of DIII All-American transfers in Rafeal Munoz and Rubin Sosa. Oduber led the country with 32 home runs and 98 RBI in '09 and also ranked 14th in the nation with a .472 batting average. Munoz posted a .483 batting clip with 47 RBI with Bunker Hill Community College (Mass.) last year, while his teammate, Sosa, ranked third in stolen bases in DIII with 39 and also hit .466 with a .529 OBP.
Casey Sadler and Jamaine Cotton, the 837th pick of the the San Francisco Giants last June, will anchor the WOSC pitching staff. Sadler posted a 4.34 ERA and was 3-2 last year in 47.2 innings of work while Cotton worked 69 innings and posted a 10-4 record with a 4.90 ERA.
The Pioneers were also featured in Perfect Game USA's preseason JUCO Top 50, coming in at No. 25.
In just his first season at Parkland, head coach Matt Kennedy led the Cobras to a 49-9 mark, while capturing the M-WAC regular season title, Region 24 Championship and school's second national title. Kennedy has plenty of talent returning to make a run at a third title in nine years (2002, 2009) for Parkland as they welcome back 14 players of last year's championship squad.
Outfielders Kevin Kiermaner (6-1, 200 lbs.) and Bob Glover (6-1, 175 lbs.) will lead the top of the offensive order for the Cobras this year. Both have great speed, combining for 43 stolen bases last year. Kiermaner posted a .430 batting average with 13 homers and 50 RBI while Glover had a .348 mark with 42 RBI.
The Cobras have two hurlers returning that combined for close to 70 innings of work last season. Darin Worman (6-4, 180 lbs.) worked 45.2 innings and came away with a 3.74 ERA and a 5-1 record. Danny Winkler (6-3, 190 lbs.) posted a 4-0 record with a 4.09 ERA in just 22 innings.
Perfect Game USA graded Parkland as the 34th-best two-year college baseball program in their preseason JUCO Top 50.
2010 NJCAA Division II District Predictions
(2009 Record)
Southwest District (NJCAA Regions 1, 5)
1. Paradise Valley (33-22); 2. Scottsdale (39-22); 3. Chandler-Gilbert (18-35); 4. Glendale (30-27)
North Plains District (NJCAA Regions 9, 11, 13)
1. Des Moines (55-11); 2. Iowa Central (29-26); 3. Kirkwood (37-17) ; 4. Southeastern (41-15)
North Central District (NJCAA Region 4)
1. Kankakee (52-14); 2. Elgin (38-18); 3. Madison (37-12); 4. Oakton (29-25)
Midwest District (NJCAA Region 24)
1. Heartland (42-9); 2. Parkland (49-9); 3. Springfield (37-16); 4. Danville Area (25-21)
North District (NJCAA Region 12)
1. Grand Rapids (35-24); 2. Kellogg (30-20); 3. Sinclair (36-12); 4. Jackson (43-12)
South District (NJCAA Region 23)
1. LSU-Eunice (51-12); 2. Itawamba (43-13); 3. Hinds (35-19); 4. Mississippi Gulf Coast (32-17)
Plains District (NJCAA Regions 2, 6, 16)
1. Western Okla. State (50-15); 2. Northern Okla.-Enid (42-12); 3. Redlands (28-23); 4. Northern Okla.-Tonkawa (27-26)
Southeast District (NJCAA Regions 10, 22)
1. LB Wallace (48-11); 2. Wilkes (35-15); 3. Southeastern (23-19); 4. Lenoir (22-21)
East District (NJCAA Regions 3, 15, 19)
1. Monroe (27-19); 2. CC of Rhode Island (33-11); 3. Dean (27-11); 4. Dutchess (22-15)
Northeast District (NJCAA Regions 19, 20)
1. Burlington (39-17); 2. Allegany College of Md. (48-15); 3. Delaware Tech (24-17); 4. Lackawanna (32-15)
Note: Preseason rankings and district predictions based off media guide forms submitted by member colleges.
ABOUT THE NJCAA DIVISION II BASEBALL RANKINGS
New for the 2010 season, the NJCAA will release seven DII baseball rankings on a bi-weekly basis at the beginning of the season and then weekly the last three weeks of the season based on the following schedule: March 17, March 31, April 14, April 28, May 12, May 19 and May 26. The final poll date is determined by the start of the DII Championship.
Each NJCAA Region Director with Division II baseball will report the top teams in their respective region to the NJCAA National Office each Monday, which is then compiled into a weekly region report. This report is then sent out to the NJCAA Division II voting panel, which consists of the 10 NJCAA District Directors. Each District Director then compiles a Top 15 based on this report.
In order to be eligible for ranking, a team must have their schedule/results and stats up to date on the NJCAA website. They must also then be submitted by their region director to the national office for poll consideration.
The NJCAA National Office will compile all votes and release the rankings to the public on each poll date online at www.njcaa.org.
2009 records listed below; Numbers in 'Points' column refers to number of returning starters/players.
