OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – The No. 2 seed Johnson County Community College (55-8) baseball will open the 2023 NJCAA College World Series with a 4 p.m. (CST) matchup against No. 9 seed Shelton State College (31-28) this afternoon in Grand Junction, Colo. They will be the third featured match of the day. No. 4 seed Weatherford will take No. 7 Delado at 10 a.m. (CST).
This is the Cavaliers third trip to the NJCAA World Series, but this is the highest they have been seeded. JCCC qualified in 2008 and 2014, going 0-2 in each tournament. In 2008, Johnson County's first opponent was Shelton State. The Buccaneers defeated JCCC 8-4, then went on to finished runner-up.
Johnson County head coach Eric Horner, now in his third season as the Cavaliers skipper, was an assistant at JCCC during the first two times they qualified for the World Series. This season, Horner had led his team to a school record 55 wins and stands 144-35, which rank as the most wins over the first three years as head coach in Kansas Jayhawk Conference history.
The Cavaliers enter the tournament as the No. 2 hitting team in the country boasting a team batting average of .365 and lead the NJCAA in total hits with 706. JCCC is also 10th in doubles (134) and sixth in triples (32). On the hill, the Cavaliers pitching staff ranks seventh nationally in ERA at 3.57 and are third in strikeouts with 588.
Shelton State is making its sixth trip to Grand Junction, all under head coach Bobby Sprowl, who is a lasting legacy at Shelton State. Now in his 33rd season at the helm, Sprowl has compiled a 1,139-691 record. He is 9-10 all-time in World Series play.