By James Hernandez 


Following two epic weekends of tournament play that saw the College of Southern Nevada emerge victorious in both the Region 18 and Western District Championships, this determined pack of Coyotes has plans of invading Grand Junction, Colorado and emerging with the program's second Junior College World Series title. The first obstacle standing in the way of the Coyotes is the Wabash Valley College Warriors.

WVC posted an impressive 48-13 record on its way to claiming a NJCAA Northern District tournament championship and advancing to the Junior College World Series for the first time in 28 years. Like CSN (45-16) the Warriors began the preseason ranked in the NJCAA top 25 and carried lofty expectations into the 2017 season after a forty plus win campaign the previous year. This 2017 edition of the Warriors is loaded! 12 of the 14 sophomore's on the roster have already signed Division I Baseball letters of intent for the 2018 season with every starting position player featuring a batting average north of .300. Offense carried the WVC all season as the team hit .339 with 41 long balls and 482 runs scored while CSN produced a .299 team average with 23 bombs and 400 runs scored.

Let's take a deeper look at how both teams stack up versus each other. 

First Base:
Southern Nevada features the reigning Region 18  Player of the Year, true freshman Justin Lutes at first base. Lutes paced the Coyotes in most major offensive categories (Runs-55, Hits-66, HR-6, RBI-46, and OBP-.523) and also flashed some outstanding leather in the field. The former Liberty High School Patriot also broke the CSN single season record for walks with 52 free passes formerly held by Quinton Mack.

Wabash Valley sophomore Romero Harris provided most of the heavy lifting in the middle of the Warriors order, launching a team-high 11 round-trippers and producing a team high 63 runs batted in. Harris was one of nine Wabash College players to sport a batting average over .300 and his outstanding 2017 season has landed him a scholarship to continue his baseball career next spring as a member of the Indiana State Sycamores.

Edge: Even

Second Base:
Southern Nevada features slick-fielding future UNLV Rebel commit Dillon "DJ" Johnson at second. The former Silverado Skyhawk has started every game since cracking the lineup as a true freshman last season. Johnson is unquestionably a team leader who lets his play on the diamond do his talking and has gotten hot at the right time, providing plenty of clutch moments both at the dish and in the field over the Coyotes magical postseason run.

Wabash Valley counters with Northern Kentucky commit Collin Luty. The future Norse is also a wizard with the leather; however he does not possess the same pop in his bat that Johnson provides. His .337 batting average ranks sixth amongst the Warriors and his nine errors on the season are tied the second fewest amongst Wabash College infielders.

Edge: Southern Nevada

Shortstop:
Southern Nevada shortstop Jay Martz can flat-out get it done with the glove, routinely making the spectacular seem routine on the diamond. Martz struggled a bit down the stretch with the bat; however the CSN nine-hole hitter came up with some clutch at bats on the final day of the Western District Tournament.

Wabash Valley SS Jarrod Watkins may be the most talented player at his position in Grand Junction, Colorado. Watkins will join Romero Harris next year at Indiana State, but first the multi-talented shortstop would like to grow his reputation at the biggest proving ground in junior college baseball. Jarrod enters GJ batting .340 with 42 RBI, 73 hits and 43 runs scored.

Edge: Wabash Valley

Third Base:
Southern Nevada features diaper dandy and the pride of the 808 Jordan Macias at the hot corner. Macias made the transition from high school to junior college look easy, acting like a Hoover vacuum at third base and finishing second on the team with 41 RBI's while solidifying his place as one of the most dangerous leadoff men in the NJCAA.

Wabash Valley has a gem of their own occupying the hot corner in sophomore Diego Pichardo. Diego was a tough out at the plate, hitting .355 (2nd amongst regular starters) coming into Junction with 46 runs batted in and showing some sneaky pop with five bombs. Pichardo led the team with 62 runs scored this year and will continue his baseball career next season as a member of the Bethany College Bison in the ECAC.

Edge: Even

Catcher:
Southern Nevada features a platoon behind the plate with sophomore's Nicco Festa (.257 AVG 17 RBI 27 Hits) and Cody Milner (.365 AVG 12 RBI 23 Hits). With Milner finding a home at DH in the WDC tournament don't be surprised if you see both Coyote back stops in the lineup together, splitting the catching duties based on CSN's starting pitcher that day.       

Wabash Valley counters with freshman Jacob Kalusniak behind the dish. Kalusniak put together an outstanding first season with the Warriors; flashing a .342 average with 35 RBI's and 50 hits. Jacob committed only 3 errors in 51 games and comes into the GJ rocking a .992 fielding percentage.

Edge: Wabash Valley

Left Field:
Southern Nevada left fielder Blake Wiggins began the season as the team's starting third baseman, but after a wrist injury shelved him for nearly two months he returned with the hot corner occupied by Jordan Macias. The Little Rock, Arkansas native showed his versatility by moving to left and playing some outstanding defense. Blake's bat was white-hot to end the WDC tournament and produced the same amount of homers (6) as his counterpart Beckman, despite having 50 fewer plate appearances. A healthy and locked in Wiggins has the talent to be one of the premier bats in this year's Junior College World Series.

Wabash Valley sophomore LF Trey Beckman produced a .316 average in 155 plate appearances this season, which included 35 runs batted, 49 hits and 37 runs scored. The future University of Illinois Chicago commit had an excellent sophomore campaign, but just does not feature the same offensive upside as CSN's Blake Wiggins.

Edge: Southern Nevada

Centerfield:
Southern Nevada features one of the NJCAA's most athletic defensive centerfielders in sophomore Jarrett Perns. The former Green Valley Gator can go get it with the best of them. "JP" committed only one error this season and coming into GJ featured a .990 fielding percentage. His bat has started to come alive as of late, and Perns has the potential to be one of the X factors for this Coyotes this week in Colorado.

Wabash Valley counters with outstanding leadoff man Braden Giroux. Braden is the real deal, ranking second on the team in runs scored with 50 and producing an impressive 37 RBI's from the top spot in the batting order. Giroux will be taking his talents to West Lafayette, Indiana where he should immediately become one of the top outfielders in the Big Ten conference.

Edge: Wabash Valley

Right field:
Southern Nevada has the luxury of a veteran corner outfielder in Christian Maggi that tasted a Junior College World Series title just one season ago with the Yavapai College Roughriders. Maggi's has been invaluable to this CSN team, producing a .308 average with 27 RBI's and a team high 28 stolen bases. Christian comes into GJ committing just one error on the year, fielding at a .985 clip.

Wabash Valley features power hitting sophomore David Rodriguez. David's 9 big flies and 56 runs batted in were good enough to rank second on the team and his 24 extra base hits trail only Romero Harris. In 52 games played this season Rodriguez has yet to commit an error, which makes him the only starting position player from either side with a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage.

Edge: Wabash Valley

Starting Pitching:
Southern Nevada starting pitching is led by a pair of sophomore southpaw's in Ben Cutting (6-1, 2.72 ERA, 73 K's) and Todd Danzeisen (9-1 3.45 ERA, 60 K's) and electric diaper dandies Isaiah Blaylock (9-3, 3.48 ERA, 61 K's) and Herbie Good (3-1, 4.63 ERA, 55 K's) CSN's starting staff features a team ERA of 4.20, tops in the SWAC, however it lacks that top of the rotation arm(s) that it featured in years past with such names as Phil Bickford, Mikey York, A.J. Jones and Gabe Gonzalez.

Wabash Valley starting pitching on the other hand makes up one of the deepest collections of talent in the entire NJCAA. Lefty freshman phenom Max Roberts (9-1, 1.11 ERA, 96 K's, 9.71 K's per 9 IP) spear heads this talented group of arms along with fellow frosh Malcom Grady (6-4 4.84 ERA, 60 K's) and three sophomore's that will be pitching for D1 colleges next season. Cameron Shyrock (Austin Peay University commit, 6-0, 1.96 ERA, 58 K's) Aaron McGeorge (University of Kentucky commit, 4-3, 3.33 ERA, 39 K's) and Liam Jenkins (University of Louisville commit, 5-1, 1.59 ERA, 40 K's) give WVC the necessary pitching depth to claim a 2017 Junior College World Series title.

Edge: Wabash Valley

Bullpen:
Southern Nevada has a dynamic collection of talent in the back end of its pen that has accounted for 17 of the teams 45 wins. The two-headed monster of Blake Inouye (6-2, 3.57 ERA, 2 SV) and Alex Tisminezky (4-1, 3.69 ERA 3 SV) have owned the late innings for the Coyotes. The emergence of sophomore's Dan Skelly (3-3) and Timmy Burtzloff (2-2) down the stretch provide Coach Garritano with the kind of versatility few teams in GJ possess.

Wabash Valley features some power in the backend of its pen as well, led by future University of South Alabama commit Jared Proctor (4-2, 1 SV). The lefty posted a microscopic 0.85 ERA with 43 K's over 31.2 stellar innings of work. Righty's Dalton Leighty (3-0, 3 SV, 2.84 ERA) Gio Nieves (4-0, 3 SV, 1.88 ERA) and Logan Parrett 3-0, 1 SV, 1.47 ERA) give the Warriors outstanding balance and flexibility when closing out games.

Edge: Southern Nevada

This is one of the more interesting opening round matchups of the NJCAA World Series, with both teams bringing contrasting styles of play to the diamond. If CSN can strike first like it has in its past four victories, they should be able to put the pressure on a Warriors team that hasn't won a game at Suplizio Field since George H.W. Bush was occupying the White House. On the other hand if WVC gets out to an early advantage, they have the arms to make life miserable for a Coyote offense that is not built to come from behind.

First pitch for CSN vs WVC is set for Noon MST on Saturday May 27th.

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