By Jordan Long
The College of Central Florida Patriots started the year like every JUCO Division 1 baseball team with the goal of making it to the JUCO World Series. They earned the trip by winning the South Atlantic District. Once here in Grand Junction, Colorado, they won the whole thing for the first time in school history. Let’s look back at their run.
The College of Central Florida Patriots were familiar with Grand Junction, Colorado. They played in last year’s tournament. They beat Cowley County of Kansas in game 1, 8-2. In game 10, Walters State beat them 16-8. One more loss and their season would come to a close. In game 12, Cowley got revenge and ended the College of Central Florida season by the score of 10-7.
This year, the College of Central Florida had higher hopes. They wanted to make a return trip but had to win the South Atlantic District. This one district might be the toughest in all of the Junior College Baseball Division 1. There are so many great schools including Miami Dade College, Chipola College, Palm Beach State College, and Polk State College to name a few. All of these schools have competed in the JUCO World Series. College of Central Florida knocked off Northwest Florida State 7-2 in the South Atlantic District Championship game to earn the trip to Grand Junction, Colorado.
Once the College of Central Florida arrived in Grand Junction, they were the #1 overall seed. In their first game, which was game #2, they faced the Andrew College Fighting Tigers. Andrew College was no match for them as the College of Central Florida drummed them 12-0 in 5 innings due to the run rule.
In game #10, the College of Central Florida dropped game 7 to Weatherford 14-6 in 7 innings because of the run rule. This meant that the College of Central Florida was in the loser’s bracket. One more loss and their season would end.
In game #12, they faced Delgado College. It was a close game. Both teams were fighting to keep their season alive. College of Central Florida though came out on top with a 12-9 victory, meaning their season was still alive.
In game #14, they faced Wabash Valley. This was a back-and-forth game. College of Central Florida was down 11-9 going into the 9th inning. Their season could have come to a close. They scored 2 runs to send the game to extra innings. Neither the College of Central Florida or Wabash Valley scored a run in the 10th. In the 11th inning, the College of Central Florida put a run on the board, meaning all they needed was three outs to end the game. It didn’t happen as Wabash Valley tied the game up in the bottom half of the inning. The College of Central Florida exploded for 7 runs in the 12th, winning the game 19-12. This game took 5 hours and 19 minutes to play, the longest game in JUCO history. With that the College of Central Florida played on.
In game #18, they went up against Weatherford. The winner would face Wabash Valley in the Championship Game. Weatherford went up 3-0 in the top of the second. In the bottom half of the inning the College of Central Florida scored 7 to take a 7-3 lead. Weatherford added a run in the 3rd and 4 in the 4th. Heading into the 5th inning, the score stood at 8-7 for Weatherford. The College of Central Florida responded with 2 runs in the 5th. At that point the score stood at 9-8 in favor of the College of Central Florida. In the top half of the 6th, Weatherford tied the game up at 9 but the College of Central Florida scored a run in the bottom half of the inning. In the 7th inning, Weatherford scored twice. Up 13-10, it looked like they were in control of the game. In the bottom of the 7th inning the College of Central Florida added 3 to tie the game. They finally took the lead for good in the bottom of the 8th with a run. They moved on to the championship game by a final score of 14-13.
In the championship game, the College of Central Florida scored 9 in the top of the first inning and never looked back. They defeated Wabash Valley 13-6 as they are now the 2023 JUCO World Series Champions.
The reason for the success at this year’s tournament for the College of Central Florida was their hitting. Their batting average ended at .332. What really carried them was their home runs with a total of 14. They were patient at the plate with 46 walks and had timely hits to score runs.
College of Central Florida can enjoy the victory. This was their first JUCO World Series title in school history. Hopefully, they will be back next year to defend their title. JUCO hasn’t seen a back-to-back champion since Chipola College which was in 2017 and 2018.
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