NCMC Pirate's Baseball captured their first NJCAA DII Region 16 Championship over the weekend in Union, MO. The team defeated East Central College 14-4 and Moberly Area CC 12-6 on Saturday, which secured the title. The victories occurred in the Region 6/16 postseason tournament, an event that Hesston College from Kansas won. They defeated the Pirates twice plus Moberly Area to move on to the NJCAA Plains District Tournament in Enid, OK.
NCMC opened the tournament as the #4 seed and fell to Hesston 13-5 on Friday. Taking the loss on the mound was freshman Kevin Toala (1-6) who allowed 7 earned runs over 2.1 innings pitched. Offensively, fellow freshman Hagen McGarrah had a nice game, going 2-2 with a couple walks and 2 runs scored.
In Saturday's first elimination matchup for NCMC, the Pirates got an excellent start on the mound from sophomore Layne Rutherford (2-3). He twirled 4.2 innings while allowing 2 earned runs and striking out 5. Up and down the Pirate's lineup were strong offensive performances as the team pounded out 15 hits and scored 14 runs. Rutherford accounted for 3 of those hits and drove in 2. Tanner Wright knocked a home run in his 1-3 day, driving in 3 runs and scoring another 2.
Elimination game two on Saturday afternoon came against Moberly Area, a matchup for top honors in Region 16. The Pirates got off to a strong start offensively and held an 8-2 lead after 4 innings. Relief ace Evan Johnston (6-1) posted his sixth victory of the year by throwing the final 4.2 innings, allowing 1 earned run and striking out 5. Jesus Fonseca led the balanced offensive attack by going 3-4 including a 3-run HR in the 8th inning. He totaled 4 RBIs and 2 runs scored.
Sunday, the Pirates had the tall task of defeating Hesston College twice to advance in the national tournament. NCMC fell short again against the Larks, dropping the opener 9-4 to end their season. Allan Martinez (2-4) took the tough luck loss as he threw 5 innings and allowed 4 runs, only 1 of which was earned. He struck out 6 batters and allowed 1 HR. NCMC had 4 costly errors in the defeat. The Pirates offense was held in check well until the 8th inning when the team mounted a small comeback, scoring 3 runs. Bailey Quint led the offense with a 3-4 day including 2 runs and 2 RBIs.
Earning 1st Team All Region honors for the Region Champions were freshman outfielder Hagen McGarrah, sophomore first baseman Tanner Wright, sophomore utility man Bailey Quint and sophomore pitcher Evan Johnston.
All-Defensive Team members included Quint, Johnston, sophomore catcher Daniel Mendez and sophomore second baseman Layne Rutherford.
2nd Team All Region nods were given to Rutherford, sophomore shortstop Jesus Fonseca plus freshman pitchers Allan Martinez and Kevin Toala.
Head Coach Donnie Hillerman won NJCAA DII Region 16 Coach of the Year. The Pirates finish the year with a 22-30 record.
