No. 5 Crowder set for battle in deep World Series field
May 27—Getting to Grand Junction, Colorado, is supposed to be difficult.
Crowder College's baseball program has become a frequent visitor.
After winning the South Central District title on Sunday, the Roughriders clinched their second consecutive and third berth to the NJCAA World Series in the last five years.
It's the program's fourth trip out to Grand Junction — all under Crowder coach Travis Lallemand.
"You're always very privileged and never take it for granted being here," Lallemand said. "This is what makes those 6 ams, all the long practices in the fall, all the long travel and all the things we have to do, worthwhile.
"This is the pinnacle of junior college baseball. I'm very humbled and grateful to have the opportunity to coach in this tournament once again. I know our kids utter the same sentiments."
Crowder (53-11) earned the No. 5 seed when the brackets and seedings were released by the NJCAA on Tuesday. The Roughriders face sixth-seeded Central Arizona at 11 a.m. Sunday in the first round of the week-long tournament at Sam Suplizio Field.
In its first two appearances in the World Series, Crowder went 1-2 in 2010 and 2-2 in 2017. Last year Crowder was on the doorstep of the national championship game, but lost to eventual champion McLennan.
The Roughriders settled for third after fighting back from a first-round loss.
"Being here for the second year in a row, the players have experienced it," Lallemand said. "We have more guys that understand what's going on than last time. They know how to handle the preparation that goes into the games. We had our first practice on (Thursday) and it was business as usual. Obviously, we are in Grand Junction, but they are going about it like it is Game 65 right now."
The 10-team, double-elimination World Series will be capped by a championship round on June 3-4. Walters State received the top seed and will face 10-seed Harford, while fourth-seeded Central Florida will meet seventh-seeded Cowley. Second-seeded Wabash Valley will clash with ninth-seeded Snead State and third-seeded McLennan will play eighth-seeded San Jacinto North.
Lallemand said the overall field is as deep as it has been in recent years.
"What a great opportunity we have coming out here and being prepared for what we had to go through," Lallemand said. "Our regional was as tough as its ever been. The district was as tough as its been. The World Series follows suit with that. We're looking forward to it. It's going to be challenging, but we are looking forward to that challenge."
The Roughriders went 3-1 in district play en route to the World Series, including victories of 5-3 and 9-1 over Delgado Community College.
Last year's national runner-up, Central Arizona (54-12) notched consecutive wins of 4-2 and 12-4 over Salt Lake to claim the West District title.
The Vaqueros have five batters hitting better than .300, including Kiko Romero, who leads the way with 19 home runs and 73 runs batted in. He has a .361 batting average with a 1.289 OPS.
"They've got a lot of big time arms," Lallemand said. "They are athletic. They are coached well. They are really, really exceptional defensively. They aren't necessarily a big power team, but they are definitely a team that can run and put pressure on you by putting the ball in play and a really good two-strike team."
Lallemand said his team could face Central Arizona ace Tyler Woessner. The righty is 10-2 in 16 starts this season with a 3.32 ERA.
Another possibility is righty Shane Spencer, who started in the national championship game last season against McLennan. He's 12-1 in 16 starts with a 3.40 ERA.
"They are both quality arms," Lallemand said. "A little bit of a different genre. One is predominantly fastball-slider and the other one is fastball-split with a breaking ball mixed in. I'm not sure who we will see, but we prepared for both guys so when we see that lineup card, we are not surprised."
Crowder ace Jacob Misiorowski, a LSU signee, will get the nod for the Roughriders in their World Series opener. The power-packed righty has a 10-0 record in 14 starts with a 2.57 ERA, striking out 126 batters in 70 innings.
Added Lallemand, "We will match up mano-a-mano, 1-on-1. It should be a pretty entertaining game that gets a lot of attention out here in Grand Junction."
The Roughriders are hitting .333 as a team with 75 home runs, 23 triples and 151 doubles. Leading the way are eight players hitting over .300 in Peyton Holt (.430), Josh Patrick (.414), Chaz Poppy (.372), Clayton Gray (.355), Houston King (.338), Jackson Cobb (.336), Landrey Wilkerson (.312) and Gavin Glasgow (.304).
On top of his average, Patrick has an .833 slugging percentage, 19 home runs and 83 RBI.
After struggling defensively in last year's World Series, Crowder placed an emphasis on shoring that up over the offseason.
The difference has become night and day.
"We shot ourselves in the foot last year defensively," Lallemand said. "We left a lot of outs on the field. But that's one thing we did in the district. We defended and took away some potential hits. We really took away the routine stuff. We turned double plays when we had the opportunity. Hopefully, we can do that again and repeat that performance defensively from districts, so we can give ourselves a chance."
The winner between Crowder and Central Arizona advances to play the winner of Game 8 at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. The loser plays an elimination game at 11 a.m. on the same day against the loser of Game 8.
The competition is stiff, but Team 57 is ready to roll.
"You can't take any inning off or it might be the inning that cost you your season," Lallemand said. "The talent level in this field is impressive. You got the best teams in the country out here. We are just hoping we bring our best brand of baseball with us and see what we can do."
