Northwest Florida (40-14, 4-1 JUCO) received the bye into the championship game based on playing the most games in the tournament, five. Blinn and Georgia Highlands (56-9, 3-1 JUCO) have each played four.
Eight of the nine Northwest Florida starters got at least one hit, with Cayden Gaskin going 3 for 5 and Maduro going 3 for 4. Hubbard had three RBI, hitting two home runs. Jaquae Stewart also hit a home run, his third of the tournament for the Raiders, a team that has turned heads with its speed, but can also hit for power. Northwest Florida has outscored its opponents 65-21 this week.
Grayson Godbee hit his second home run of the tournament for the Chargers.
Trip Dovale took the loss for the Chargers, allowing 13 runs on 15 hits through 5.1 innings. He was on the brink of coming out of the game before Sadler’s key at-bat, but Georgia Highlands coach Dash O’Neill elected to stay with him. He struck out six and walked five.
The team has received considerable media attention. With last night’s 15-14 win for the 4-seed Chargers over 6-seed Blinn, Georgia Highlands (3-0) is the only team still without a loss during their first trip to NJCAA World Series!
Check out these great stories, and read a recap of their wins below:
(Photos and copy provided by the official Alpine Bank JUCO World Series website and Facebook page):
On Wednesday, Charger Ryan Martin delivered the knockout blow in a punch-counterpunch game of the final two undefeated teams in the Alpine Bank Junior College World Series, delivering Georgia Highlands a 15-14 victory over Blinn College.
The Chargers (56-8, 3-0 JUCO) saw their 13-11 lead disappear in the top of the ninth, but Barrett Eldridge drew a leadoff walk in the bottom of the inning.
Martin sent the second pitch he saw from Ben Bosse deep into the night, a towering shot that hit the light pole on the way up for the walk-off winner.
It sent the Chargers into a frenzy as they met Martin at the plate, then stamped their nameplate on the bracket board, putting them into the championship semifinal at 7 p.m. Thursday against Northwest Florida State. Blinn (44-17, 2-1 JUCO) faces Florence-Darlington at 2 p.m. for a chance to play for the title.
The final rally happened after the Buccaneers had come back from allowing a five-run inning in the bottom of the eighth to lose its 11-8 lead. A fielding error led to two runs for the Chargers, and Ryan Wideman delivered a two-run single to give Georgia Highlands a 13-11 advantage.
With two on and one out in the top of the ninth, Blinn’s Brandon Bishop doubled down the third-base line, driving in both runners, and took third on a throwing error, tying the game at 13-13. The umpires conferred and ruled that the ball did pass over the third base bag before it landed in foul territory. A sacrifice fly by Coy DeFury put the Buccaneers on top again, 14-13, before Martin’s winning blast.
Earlier in the game, balls were flying out of Suplizio Field — Caden Ferraro hit a three-run shot for Blinn in the Bucs’ five-run third inning, and the Chargers hit five. Luke Orfi, Wideman, Eldridge and Ali Banks all left the yard before Martin’s walk-off, but in the later innings, the ball wasn’t carrying as well.
Wideman, Eldridge and Banks each drove in three runs for Georgia Highlands, which is attempting to win its first NJCAA Division I baseball title in its first trip to Grand Junction.
Kyle Stephenson got the victory with one inning of relief.
On Monday, the Chargers erupted for six runs in the sixth inning and knocked off top-ranked and top-seeded Johnson County Community College 10-1 in a run-rule game.
Georgia Highlands, ranked No. 2 and seeded No. 4 in the JUCO World Series, playing in front of 10,691 fans at Suplizio Field, broke a scoreless tie on Grayson Godbee’s leadoff home run in the fifth inning that bounced off a row of bleachers in the outfield stands. With two out, Luke Orfi hit a towering shot over the left-field wall for a 2-0 lead.
The Cavaliers (53-12, 1-1 JUCO) got one run back in the bottom of the inning on Kyle Hepburn’s RBI triple to left-center after Miken Miller singled.
In the sixth, however, the Chargers, making their appearance in the Junior College World Series, sent 11 men to the plate, scoring six runs on five hits and two Johnson County errors.
The first run came home on some heads-up base running on a throwing error by pitcher Ryan Borberg attempting to pick Ryan Wideman off second. Wideman not only advanced to third but never slowed down, scoring as the ball went into the outfield. Ali Banks delivered a two-run double and Wideman added a run-scoring single in the inning.
Two runs in the seventh pushed the lead to 10-1 and Michel Sharman wrapped up the compete game by retiring three of the four men he faced in the bottom half of the inning, walking one batter with two out, but then coming back with his fifth strikeout of the game Sharman allowed one run on seven hits, walked two and threw 117 pitches, 81 for strikes.
Orfi had three of Georgia Highlands’ hits and Clay Wiesen, Martin and Godbee drove in two runs each.
Johnson County’s Hepburn came a home run shy of hitting for the cycle, collecting three of the Cavaliers’ seven hits.
On Saturday, May 25, an early defensive battle ended in a 5-1 victory for Georgia Highlands in game one of the Alpine Bank Junior College Baseball World Series.
Both pitchers for #2 Georgia Highlands (54-8, 1-0 JUCO) and #17 McLennan (43-18, 0-1 JUCO) were efficient in the early inning. However, in the bottom of the fourth inning, Ryan Wideman scored the first run of the tournament with a solo homerun to left center. In the top of the fifth, McLennan answered with a solo shot to right center by Sam Flores.
In the fifth, Georgia Highlands took a 2-1 lead on a Luke Orfi double to center. They would add an additional run in the sixth off a Ryan Martin single up the middle. The Chargers would add a pair of insurance runs in the eighth on a bases loaded walk issued to Grayson Godbee and an RBI single by Ali Banks.
Go Chargers, we’re behind you! Follow the Chargers on the the official Alpine Bank JUCO World Series website and Facebook page for real-time updates.
