By James Hernandez

For the third consecutive season and fourth time in five years Henderson, Nevada will play host to the Region XVIII Baseball Tournament. This three-day tournament has hosted some of the premier talent in all of junior college baseball the last few seasons, including a Scenic West Athletic Conference high 12 CSN Coyotes selected in the MLB draft since 2013. That list includes: Phil Bickford (1^st round) Mikey York (5^th round) Tyler Brown (26^th round) Tyler Hallead (24^th round) Gabe Gonzalez (27^th round) Brody Westmoreland (30^th round) Jordan Hand (39^th round) Grant Heyman (8^th round) Scott Tomasetti (34^th round) Evan Van Hoosier (8^th round) Thomas Pannone (9^th round) and Will Morris (24^th round). The winner of this year's five team tournament will travel to either Coolidge or Yuma, Arizona to compete in next week's NJCAA Western District Championships.

Below is a list of the teams competing for a Region XVIII tournament crown May 11-13.
* Denotes team leader

#5 Seed USU-Eastern Eagles 16-33 overall, 9-23 SWAC  
 
Players to watch:
Jesse Rowley (.350* AVG, 48* Hits, 27* Runs, 3* HR, 19 RBI)

Cole Fossat (.270 AVG, 38 Hits, 20 Runs, 3* HR, 31* RBI)

Zac Lundell (.236 AVG, 25 Hits, 14 Runs, 12 RBI)

Austin Pitcher (.282 AVG, 29 Hits, 19 Runs, 5 RBI).

Top Arms:
Chase Stratton (3-3 W/L, 53*IP, 2.72* ERA, 44* K's)

Colton Hill (4-4* W/L, 38.2 IP, 4.89 ERA, 20 K's)

Cole Fossat (0-1 W/L, 36.2 IP, 5.15 ERA, 43 K's)

USU-E can win the 2017 Region 18 tournament if… The Eagles step up their offensive production and its starting pitching goes deeper into games. USU-E hit .236 (4^th SWAC) as a team during conference play and featured the highest team ERA in conference at 5.68. USU-E posted a 3-5 record versus opening round opponent CNCC, with the Spartans outscoring the Eagles 43-36 over the eight games. That play-in game winner will meet a well-rested CSN team that has posted a 5-0 mark in its Region XVIII tourney openers since 2012. The odds are firmly stacked against the visitors from Price, Utah, but it's Las Vegas and just like the old saying goes "As long as you have a chip and a seat at the table you have a chance to win."

#4 Seed CNCC Spartans 17-32-1 overall, 11-21 4^th SWAC

Players to watch:
Taylor Wright (.333* AVG, 54* Hits, 34* Runs, 5* HR, 18 RBI, 22* SB)

Sergio Reyes (.230 AVG, 34 Hits, 17 Runs, 2 HR, 30* RBI)

Logan Green (.211 AVG, 30 Hits, 34* Runs, 1 HR, 20 RBI, 19 SB)

Zach Peterson (.200 AVG, 29 Hits, 19 Runs, 9 RBI, 13 SB)

Top Arms:
Trever Berg (2-4 W/L, 68* IP, 4.37 ERA, 48 K's)

Logan Carlson (2-5 W/L, 65.1 IP, 3.86 ERA, 58* K's)

Alec Myers (2-6 W/L, 61.1 IP, 3.82 ERA, 41 K's)

Easton Woods (3-0* W/L, 27.2 IP, 1.95* ERA, 21 K's)

CNCC can win the 2017 Region 18 tournament if… The Spartans can find a way to upset top seeded CSN on its home field. CNCC head coach Lou McCollum has an interesting dilemma ahead of his play-in game with USU-E. Will he throw local product and Basic High grad Trever Berg in a "win or go home" opening game or save him for a potential matchup with the Coyotes in game two? Berg tossed 5.2 quality innings of 2-run baseball in his only start at Morse Stadium, holding a dangerous CSN lineup to just a pair of runs on six hits. CNCC was last in the SWAC offensively with a team batting average of .216, and finished third in conference ERA with a 4.20 mark.
 
#3 Seed CSI Golden Eagles 20-25 overall, 13-18 SWAC

Players to watch:
Travis Bohall (.309* AVG, 47* Hits, 24 Runs, 1 HR, 17 RBI, 21* SB)

Daniel Nist (.280 AVG, 37 Hits, 28* Runs, 5* HR, 13 RBI)

Blake Sanchez (.233 AVG, 30 Hits, 18 Runs, 5* HR, 26* RBI)

Brett Resch (.268 AVG, 33 Hits, 14 Runs, 2 HR, 20 RBI)

Jordan Freese (.264 AVG, 28 Hits, 15 Runs, 4 HR, 18 RBI)

Top Arms:
Ryan Beard (5-1* W/L, 64* IP, 0.84* ERA, 57 K's, 6* CG's)

Colton Westfall (2-1 W/L, 54.1 IP, 4.64 ERA, 59* K's)

Tyler Rosas (3-3 W/L, 35.1 IP, 3.82 ERA, 29 K's)

Alec West-Guillen (0-5 W/L, 43 IP, 4.19 ERA, 32 K's)

CSI can win the Region 18 tournament if… The Golden Eagles can continue to play well versus SLCC and CSN. CSI owns five wins over the top two teams in the SWAC (CSN and SLCC) and has arguably the top starter in the tournament in southpaw Ryan Beard. Beard fired 26.2 innings versus the Coyotes and Bruins, posting a 2-1 record, allowing just nine hits and 1 earned run over four outstanding outings. Golden Eagle pitching ranked fourth in the SWAC with a team ERA of 4.71, but did tie for second in team batting average at .257 and leads the SWAC with a 0.963 fielding percentage. CSI was outscored 41-31 by its opening round opponent SLCC, dropping five of eight meetings to the Bruins.

#2 Seed  SLCC Bruins 26-18 overall, 22-10 SWAC

Players to watch:
Jacob Thurber (.319 AVG, 43 Hits, 28 Runs, 5* HR, 27 RBI)

Nick Seginowich (.305 AVG, 40 Hits, 24 Runs, 5* HR, 32* RBI)

Mitch Berryhill (.336 AVG, 49* Hits, 35* Runs, 15 RBI, 12* SB)

Kam Lane ( .248 AVG, 37 Hits, 23 Runs, 1 HR, 23 RBI)

Nic Roberts (.269 AVG, 36 Hits, 29 Runs, 1 HR, 16 RBI)

Top Arms:
Trenton Griffin (5-0* W/L, 53.2* IP, 3.19 ERA, 44* K's)

Sterling Lay (4-1 W/L, 35.1 IP, 3.57 ERA, 29 K's)

Jesse Parker (3-2 W/L, 32.2 IP, 2.48 ERA, 36 K's)

Mason Abrath (2-2 W/L, 18.2 IP, 1.93 ERA, 27 K's)

Jayden Hartle (1-0 W/L, 16 IP, 1.13* ERA, 10 K's)

Will Heward (1-1 W/L, 24 IP, 1.88 ERA, 20 K's, 1* SV)

SLCC can win the Region 18 tournament if… The Bruins can shorten the game and utilize its 3-headed monster at the back of the bullpen. Coach D.G. Nelson has three electric arms in Mason Abrath, Jayden Hartle and Will Heward that make life miserable for opposing teams trying to come from behind versus SLCC. Salt Lake is the only team to defeat CSN three times this season and have the depth, experience and talent to win a Region XVIII crown in 2017. The Bruins posted the second-best team ERA in the SWAC at 4.14 and tied for second in overall team batting average, hitting at a .257 clip in conference play. Over the past three Region 18 tournaments matchups between the Bruins and Coyotes have turned into instant classics, and this year should be no exception as both clubs have their sights set on Region 18 supremacy and a trip to next week's Western District Championships in Arizona.

#1 Seed CSN Coyotes 37-14 overall, 24-7 SWAC

Players to watch:
Justin Lutes (.398* AVG, 53* Hits, 47* Runs, 4* HR, 40* RBI, 44* BB)

Dillon Johnson ( .259 AVG, 43 Hits, 33 Runs, 2 HR, 25 RBI, 16 SB)

Christian Maggi (.314 AVG, 48 Hits, 29 Runs, 22 RBI, 24* SB)

Blake Wiggins (.286 AVG, 18 Hits, 11 Runs, 3 HR, 18 RBI)

Jordan Macias (.331 AVG, 43 Hits, 29 Runs, 1 HR, 30 RBI 13 SB)

Jarrett Perns (.257 AVG, 44 Hits, 32 Runs, 1 HR, 24 RBI)

Jay Martz (.252 AVG, 39 Hits, 33 Runs, 1 HR, 24 RBI)

Top Arms:
Todd Danzeisen (8-1* W/L, 62.1 IP, 3.47 ERA, 55 K's)

Ben Cutting (5-0 W/L, 68* IP, 2.12* ERA, 60* K's)

Isaiah Blaylock (8-2 W/L, 58.1 IP, 3.70 ERA, 52 K's)

Herbie Good (2-1 W/L, 48.1 IP, 5.03 ERA, 49 K's)

Alex Tisminezky (3-1 W/L, 20.2 IP, 3.05 ERA, 24 K's 2* SV)

Blake Inouye (5-2 W/L, 27.2 IP, 2.60 ERA, 36 K's, 2* SV)

CSN can win the Region 18 tournament if… The Coyotes continue their winning ways at home. "Morse Magic has been alive and well as CSN has posted a 78-17 (82% win pct.) record overall at "The Den" since the start of the 2015 season and a 48-6 (88% win pct.) mark in SWAC play. Since dropping the Region 18 title game at home last season, this 2017 group of Coyotes has had its sights set on redemption. CSN led the conference in batting average and pitching, batting .297 and posting a conference low 4.09 ERA. With the deepest collection of talent in the SWAC, CSN is motivated to avenge last season's Region 18 championship game loss and take the next step on the road to Grand Junction, Colorado for the 50^th edition of the Junior College World Series. 
    
Fans www.csncoyotes.com is your headquarters for the Region XVIII tournament all weekend long. We will have a live broadcast of every tourney game on the Coyote Sports Network and don't forget to interact with us on Facebook CSNCoyotes and Twitter @CSNCoyotes.