Pirate's baseball secured three run rule victories over the weekend against Hesston College 10-0, 13-3 & 11-3. With the wins, NCMC earned the #2 seed in the upcoming NJCAA Region 16 tournament where they will first square off with host Moberly Area CC. That game will be played on Thursday at 3:30pm. The Pirate's final regular season record is 24-23 and they finished with a region mark of 12-9.
Here is the full bracket for the NJCAA Region 16 Tournament. Seeding is as follows:
- East Central College (15-6)
- North Central Missouri College (12-9)
- Moberly Area Community College (11-10)
- Hesston College (4-17)
NCMC pitching did a good job of limiting offensive opportunities for the visiting Larks. Winners were starters Allan Martinez (4-1), Eric Torrero (4-4) and Kevin Toala (5-3). Martinez in particular had a dominating outing where he allowed just a single infield hit and struck out 9 to lower his season ERA to 3.98.
Offensively, Wilmer Jimenez had a banner weekend. He went 6-10 with a pair of homers including a grand slam. He totaled 8 RBIs in the three game set and scored 5 runs. Alejandro Paz and Jordi Ventura each collected 4 hits. Ventura, who also homered, built on his single season NCMC record for RBIs by plating 6 Pirates. Julio Guerrero went 3-8 with a homer and his .493 season batting average ranks 4th nationally.
Pirate's baseball also recognized each of these sophomore players in a pregame ceremony Saturday. Each has made vital contributions on and off the field for North Central Missouri College and their efforts are to be commended.
