The NCMC Pirate's baseball season ended over the weekend when they fell to East Central College in the championship game of the NJCAA Region 16 tournament. The final score was 6-5 in 11 innings. NCMC finished the year with a record of 26-25, just the second time in program history finishing above the .500 mark.
In the Region 16 tournament, the Pirates opened play with a 5-3 victory over host Moberly Area CC. In round two, NCMC came out on the short end of an 8-3 score against East Central. To stave off elimination and advance to the championship, NCMC downed Hesston College 11-0 in 5 innings.
Staring offensively for the Pirates in the tournament and in the season generally was Julio Guerrero. He went 9-15 including a grand slam, 8 RBIs and 3 runs scored. His final season batting average of .503 is a new school record and ranked 1st in the nation for NJCAA DII hitters. Guerrero was also named the Region 16 Player of the Year, the first Pirate ever to receive this distinction.
Also having an impressive tournament with the bat was sophomore Landon Wells. He collected 6 hits in 12 at bats plus scored 4 runs. Wilmer Jimenez collected 5 RBIs including a homer and Jordi Ventura scored 5 runs for NCMC.
Earning wins for the Pirates were Camden Lutz out of the bullpen against Moberly and Eric Torrero for his start against Hesston. Lutz twirled the most innings for the Pirates in the tournament, allowing just 1 earned run over 7.1 innings pitched. Allan Martinez had a stellar start against Moberly's ace, tossing 6 innings allowing 1 earned run in a no-decision.
2024 NCMC players etched their names in the record books for Pirate's baseball. On top of Guerrero's record batting average, he also now tops the single season runs scored category with 70. His 84 hits are second best in school history. Jordi Ventura tied the single season home run record with 12 and shattered the RBI mark with 67. He scored 53 runs for the Pirates which is 6th best. Leadoff Alexandro Paz is second in runs scored to Guerrero with 56. Wilmer Jimenez knocked 9 homers for the Pirates, good for 4th best.
On the mound, Allan Martinez comes in 3rd in single season strikeouts with 75. He also now holds the 5th best career ERA at 4.28 and is 2nd in career strikeouts with 121. Two year starter and steady contributor Kevin Toala's 106.1 career innings pitched is good for 5th most in program history.
The Pirates had a number of players honored with Region 16 awards. Guerrero was the Region 16 Player of the Year. Earning 1st Team All-Region were Allan Martinez, Jordi Ventura and Wilmer Jimenez. 2nd Team honors went to sophomores Rawlins Brant, Justin Dameron, Kevin Toala and Shodai Nishihara. Freshman Alexandro Paz also earned this distinction. On the All-Defensive team were Guerrero and Truman Bodenhausen.
Pirates on the NJCAA DII national leaderboard.
Batting Average: .503 Julio Guerrero (1st)
Triples: 8 Julio Guerrero (1st)
Hits: 84 Julio Guerrero (7th)
Runs: 70 Julio Guerrero (16th)
RBIs: 67 Jordi Ventura (16th)
Home Runs: 12 Jordi Ventura (29th)