Baseball | 1/17/2025 12:19:00 PM
The Cloud County Community College baseball team has been tabbed as one of the preseason favorites to win the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference - West Division race, according to the preseason poll conducted by the conference's head coaches and released this week.
The T-Birds garnered 71 points in the poll with two first-place votes. Barton Community College also received 71 points in the poll with three first-place votes. Neither team was picked to finish lower than fourth by any of the league coaches.
Last year, Cloud County was 40-21 overall, went 22-10 in conference play and reached the 2024 NJCAA Region 6 Plains District Tournament.
The Barton Cougars were 41-21 overall and finished KJCCC play 19-13, making it to the semifinals of the Plains District Tournament.
The defending west division champions, Hutchinson Community College, were picked third in the poll with 66 points and garnered four first-place votes. The Blue Dragons finished last season at 51-13 overall and 25-7 in conference play.
Butler Community College was slotted fourth in the poll with 47 total points, followed by Dodge City (38 points), Seward County (37 points), Colby (31 points), Garden City (23 points), and Pratt (21 points).
The top four teams in the final regular season standings of the west division will earn the right to host a best-of-three series against one of the teams from the east division who finish fifth through eighth in their division, with the winners advancing to an eight-team double-elimination tournament that is scheduled for May 13-17. For the first time in KJCCC history, the eight-team double-elimination bracket portion of the tournament will take place at the new, state-of-the-art Champtown Sports Complex in Park City, Kansas. The winner of the 2025 NJCAA Plains District Baseball Tournament will advance to the 2025 JUCO World Series in Grand Junction, Colorado, scheduled for May 24-31.
Cloud County is set to open the 2025 season on Thursday, February 6 at Kansas Wesleyan University JV in Salina, Kansas. The team's home opener is scheduled for Friday, February 7 against McCook Community College. First pitch of the doubleheader is set for 1 pm at Lee Doyen Field in Concordia, Kansas.
