2008 NJCAA JUCO World Series

Johnson County Community College earned its first trip to the NJCAA JUCO World Series in Grand Junction, Colo., in the 2008 season.  The Cavaliers went into the 10-team tournament looking to become just the second school from Kansas to win a world series title . However, the dream season for the Johnson County Community College baseball team came to an end over the weekend, as the Cavaliers were eliminated from the 2008 Alpine Bank Junior College World Series in Grand Junction, Colo.  The Cavaliers ended the 2008 campaign with an overall mark of 41-18, tied for ninth in the World Series.

JCCC drew Shelton State Community College in Game 1 on Saturday, but lost 8-4 after a late-inning pitching collapse. The Cavaliers then became the first team to go home, falling 20-7 to Central Arizona College on Sunday. JCCC did hold leads in both games. Against Shelton State, JCCC had a 4-3 lead entering the bottom of the eighth inning, but two errors and hit batter led to a five-run inning for the Buccaneers.

In the elimination loss, the Cavaliers led 6-5 when sophomore left-hander Travis Blankenship left the game after five innings. The bullpen, which had been very strong for JCCC all season, gave up 15 runs over the final three innings.

“It certainly is disappointing,”  JCCC head coach Kent Shelley said in an interview with Patrick Bahr of The Daily Sentinel after the scone game. “We expected to do a little better than we did. Nothing will take away from this experience. To have 5,000 people out her on Sunday morning in an elimination game speaks volumes to the class of the city.”

Despite the team’s disappointment, several individuals had impressive performances in their first World Series appearance. Sophomore shortstop Doug Otto, the East Jayhawk Conference MVP, first-team All-American and Rawlings Gold Glove winner, hit a team-best .667, going 4-for-6 with two doubles, a home run, three RBI, five runs,  three walks, and was 3-for-3 in stolen bases. Otto was named to the JUCO World Series All-Tournament Team.

Freshman John Lenherr and sophomore Parker Amos also were solid at the plate. Lenherr hit .500 (4-for-8) with a double and three runs, and Amos hit .444 (4-for-9) with a run and a team high four RBI.

The Cavaliers earned its first berth to the World Series by defeating cross-town rival Kansas City Kansas, 6-2 in the final game of the Region VI Tournament at Lawrence Dumont Stadium in Wichita, Kan.  Sophomore left-hander Travis Blankenship pitched nine innings, allowing just two runs on four hits, and struck out nine to earn the complete game victory, his 11th of the season, which tied a school record  . Blankenship set the tone early, striking out the first two batters of the game, and four of the first five he faced. He didn’t allow a hit until the sixth inning.

While Blankenship was throwing a gem, Kansas City Kansas’ defense opened the door for JCCC. The Blue Devils committed eight errors in the game, two in the first inning which led to two runs, two in the second and two in the third, giving JCCC a 4-0 lead.  Kansas City Kansas cut into the Cavaliers lead with a two run sixth inning, but JCCC matched that in the bottom half of the inning, and never looked back.

2014 NJCAA JUCO World Series

Johnson County earned its second trip to Grand Junction in 2014, and punched its ticket by coming through the loser’s bracket in Region VI Championship. After dropping the opening game to rival Kansas City Kansas, JCCC stormed back with six straight wins, including two the final day over KCK to capture the title and return to the JUCO World Series. 

The Cavaliers took a school record 50 wins into the tournament, and a top 10 national ranking, but they were not able to carry the momentum from regionals with  them to the World Series. Johnson County opened the tournament with a 10-5 loss to Midland College. The Cavaliers offense produced 11 hits, including home runs from Anthony Miller, Riley Landuyt and Fairchild. Miller also had a double and drove in two runs. Midland recorded 14 hits, and scored eight of its 10 runs in the first three innings.

The record-setting season for the Cavaliers (50-14) came to a close after falling 12-2 in five innings to Columbia State, Sunday afternoon at the JUCO World Series in Grand Junction, Colo. The Cavaliers were ranked fourth in the final NJCAA baseball rankings. They finished in a tie for ninth in the World Series. 

John Fairchild belted a two-run homer run in the top of the second inning to give the Cavaliers a short-lived 2-0 lead, but Columbia State plated nine in the bottom half of the inning and closed out the game in the fifth with three more to run rule JCCC.

2023 NJCAA JUCO World Series

Johnson County punched its ticket to the NJCAA World Series in 2023 by defeating Cowley 11-2 in the Region 6 Plains District Championship. Boasting a record of 55-8, the Cavaliers were awarded the No. 2 seed overall. This was the Cavaliers third trip to the NJCAA World Series, but this is the highest they have been seeded. Like their two previous appearances in the World Series, Johnson County was sent to the consolation bracket after opening with a 6-5 extra inning loss to Shelton State. 

After that loss, the Cavaliers showed how they were one of the top hitting teams in the country, jumping out to a 12-0 lead through three innings that resulted in a 16-4 win over Salt Lake to stay alive in the consolation bracket. It is the first World Series victory in team history. 

Johnson County quickly took a 3-0 lead in the first when Cooper Combs, Ryan Callahan and Dagen Brewer each doubled to left-center field. Brewer eventually stole home to make 4-0 at the top of the first. 

Johnson County tacked on five more in the top of the second with the first two charged to Salt Lake starting pitcher Dalton Smith. The Cavaliers started the inning with two walks and a single to load the bases. Dylan Hufft scored on Callahan’s sacrifice fly followed by back-to-back walks, the last with the bases loaded, to up their advantage to 6-0.  Jeremy Rader ripped a two-run single into center and Rhett Hendricks doubled to drive in a run making in 9-0 after two innings. 

The Cavaliers pushed their lead to 12-0 with three more in the third inning on when Rader cleared the bases with a double into left-center field, giving him a team-high five RBI for the game.

The greatest season in Johnson County Community College baseball history came to a close after the Cavaliers were eliminated from the Alpine Bank JUCO World Series with a 14-4 loss to Delgado.   JCCC finished the 2023 season with a mark of 56-10, setting a team record for season wins and second most in Kansas Jayhawk Conference history. 

Delgado got off to a fast start, plating four runs in the bottom of the first inning. The Dolphins added three more in the fourth and put the game away with seven in the fifth to end the game.

In the top of the second inning, the Cavaliers closed to within 4-3 on a three-run homer by centerfielder Rhett Hendricks and tied the game a 4-4 on a solo home run catcher Shae McGahan in the top of the fourth.

McGahan finished the tournament batting .833 (5-for-6) with five total RBI. His .833 average and five hits set new team records, and his five RBI tie for the second most in a tournament.  Hendricks was just as impressive posting a .667 average (4-for-6) with a team record six runs driven in. 

Head coach Eric Horner also got solid efforts from Rader, Combs and Brewer.  Rader and Combs each hit .400 (4-for-10). Rader drove in five runs, tying McGahan for second most in team tournament history, and Combs plated three runs, highlighted by his two solo home runs in the opener against Shelton State. Brewer hit .375 (3-for-8) and scored six runs over the three games setting a new tournament record.

JCCC JUCO World Series Firsts