The Chase is on for the Mississippi JUCOs

(#95)

The 2022 JUCO baseball season is underway. And the race is on for the NJCAA Division II World Series in Enid, Oklahoma.

Part of the dream of going to Hinds in the fall of 1982 was to build a program that would win championships and do some things that no other Mississippi JUCO had ever done. We won 14 championships over the years and were Region 23 runner-up five times. We also had several “first-time” accomplishments; first-times for Hinds and first-times for Mississippi.

My son Josh is now the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator at Hinds and I’m very happy about that. It is a family tradition. I will get to see many games this spring, home and away.

In 1986 we won our first South Division championship and then won Hind’s first state championship in 37 years in 1987. We also were the runner-up in the Region 23 tournament and played in the school’s first Eastern District tournament as well.

We were heading in the right direction. In those days there were North and South divisions, and the top two teams in each would qualify the state playoffs, usually a best-of-three series, matching up the #1 teams of each division to play the #2 teams of the other division. The winners would play for the state championship the next week. It could be north vs north, south vs south, or north vs south.

Or it could be the top two teams in each division coming together for a four-team double elimination tournament at the site of the the number 1 team in one division or the other in alternating years, or perhaps it was held at a neutral site, like Smith-Wills Stadium. Over the years, Gulf Coast (Ken “Curly” Farris, 13) and Mississippi Delta (Terry Thompson (1 EMCC, and 11 MDCC) won the most state championships, by far.

I always thought that both divisions had more than 2 pretty good teams. Many times we might finish third in the division and could probably compete for the state championship if we were allowed to play under that set-up.

In 2022, there are no divisions and all teams play each other; a 30 game conference schedule. 30 chances to advance to the post-season. The team with the best record is now crowned the state champion, automatically advances to the Region 23 tournament and gets a week off, while 8 other teams play a best of 3 series to advance with the winners also advancing to the Region 23 tournament. That’s 9 out of 15 Mississippi teams in the post-season. I love it!

Back in the old days under that format, we would be in contention every year. Our philosophy was “you can’t win it, if you ain’t in it.” And if we were in it, we had a chance to win it. And many times we did.

And now the Region 23 champion advances directly to the Division II World Series in Enid, Oklahoma. In the past, after the Region 23 championship, there was a district playoff series or tournament that you had to win in order to advance to the World Series. Going to the World Series has become a yearly reality for many Mississippi schools.

In 1989, Hinds won the south division, the state championship, the Region 23 championship, the Eastern District championship, and played in the JUCO World Series in Grand Junction, Colorado.

It was the Eagles first Region 23 championship, and the Eastern District championship was the first ever for a Mississippi team as was the trip to the World Series in Grand Junction.

We actually flew to Denver and bused to Grand Junction. What an awesome experience!

Our right fielder Van Reed (whose son, Vantrell, is an outstanding hitter, infielder and pitcher for the ’22 Eagles) had never flown before and missed the flight because of his fear. His punishment? He had to fly to Grand Junction in a small private plane. I’ll ask him to remind me of the story this spring when I see him. I’ll do a story on it.

No other Mississippi team has ever done all of those things in one season. Note: Rick Collier’s Itawamba Indians won the North Division, the State championship, Region 23 championship, and District E championship in 2003, but did not play in Grand Junction. They played in Millington.

Before 1993, there were no divisions in NJCAA baseball. The World Series was always played in Grand Junction since 1959. Now there are three divisions and three world series; Division I Grand Junction, Colorado), Division II (Enid, Oklahoma), and Division III (Greeneville, Tennessee).

Since Hinds first played in the World Series in 1989, a Mississippi JUCO has played in a World Series 23 times; Meridian (7, all in Grand Junction), Hinds (6, 1 in Grand Junction, 3 in Millington, and 2 in Enid), Northwest 3 (all in Millington), Copiah-Lincoln (2, both in Millington), Pearl River (2, 1 in Millington and 1 in Enid), Jones (2, both in Enid, including Mississippi’s only national championship in 2016), Gulf Coast (1, in Grand Junction), and Itawamba (1, in Millington).

My teams played in 4 World Series, one more than Corky Palmer, and two more than Scott Berry, Mike Federico (former Hinds catcher), Jim Miles, Sam Temple (at Hinds), and Keith Case.

All of these teams were Mississippi schools that were also Region 23 champions. LSUE is a Region 23 team that is not a member of the MACJC (now known as the MACCC) and has made 10 appearances in the Division II World Series (4 in Millington and 6 in Enid) and have won 6 national championships. (That’s 33 appearances for Region 23 teams in the World Series since our first appearance in 1989). Delgado was the first Region 23 team to play in Grand Junction in 1985. The great Rags Scheuermann was the head coach.

Meridian was considered an “independent” team (not playing under MACJC rules) for most of their 7 World Series appearances, competing in the Miss/Lou Conference with Delgado Community College and Bossier Parish for a while and then Baton Rouge, most recently.

It is interesting to note that as a member of the MACJC, Meridian has never appeared in the Division II World Series.

Pearl River is the defending State Champion and LSUE is the defending Region 23 and National champion.

The chase is on for 2022. Who will win the state championship? Who will win the Region 23 championship and advance to Enid? There are 16 teams working toward those goals. I’m pulling for Hinds. Stay tuned!