After the most recent junior college baseball game played at Suplizio Field, Central Arizona College’s players dogpiled in the middle of the diamond, a swarm of Vaqueros celebrating a national title.
Central Arizona had just overcome an early 7-0 deficit to beat Iowa Western Community College 13-8, clinching the program’s third championship at the Alpine Bank Junior College World Series. The Vaqueros entered the next season with the goal of repeating as the national champions.
Of course, they never got that opportunity. Nobody did. That championship game took place two years ago, with the 2020 season wiped out halfway through by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“A lot of things have happened since then with COVID and everybody’s season getting cut short last year,” Central Arizona coach Anthony Gilich said. “That was hard on everybody. It’s not easy. It’s a hard route to get to Grand Junction, and we appreciate that so much, and to win it is another huge challenge in itself. I’m excited and the guys are really excited. I’m happy for our players to get the opportunity to experience it. It’s something that they’ll never forget.”
With the 2020 season wiped out, Central Arizona enters the JUCO World Series as the defending national champion.
The Vaqueros (48-7) won their first 31 games this season and rolled through the West District tournament to earn their seventh trip to Grand Junction.
If there was any benefit to the 2020 season’s cancellation, it’s that Central Arizona’s repeat bid has lacked the substantial pressure of a back-to-back opportunity.
“I don’t think there was any extra pressure or that we were trying to defend the title,” Gilich said.” There was no champion in 2020, so we didn’t really feel that. I don’t think anyone holds the standard for ourselves higher than ourselves, anyway, so the expectations were really high and we want to perform at a high level.”
The big downside, however, is that most of the players on the 2019 national title team have moved on to the next level of colleges, with eight players, mostly pitchers, still around from that championship run.
Mat Olsen (11-0), the team’s second-most consistent pitcher behind Hunter Omlid (13-0), sat out 2019 at a redshirt, as did closer DJ Carpenter and other bullpen members Leo Palacios, Tyler Woessner and Mitchell DeCovich. DeCovich threw six innings in the Vaqueros’ win over Iowa Western, but missed this season with an injury. Even if he can’t contribute on the field, his expertise in handling the moments in Grand Junction will come in handy for his less-experienced teammates.
One of Central Arizona’s leading hitters, Preston Godfrey (50 hits, 30 RBI and six home runs), was also a redshirt on the 2019 team, watching the Vaqueros’ championship run.
“We have quite a few guys who have some experience and have played a lot,” Gilich said. “For those guys, when you get there, it’s so impressive. Grand Junction does such an amazing job with the turnout.
“You look into the stands and go, ‘Wow, there’s a lot of people here.’ Sometimes, the jitters get you early, so having some guys who have experience having been there probably helps a little bit.”
However, the experience of winning a title only goes so far in a new year with a largely new team, as well as a different field of competition to conquer.
JD McLaughlin has been Central Arizona’s top player at the plate this season, leading the team in hits (74), RBI (59), home runs (12) and stolen bases (30). Behind McLaughlin are other solid hitters like Kiko Romero (59 hits, 53 RBI), Godfrey, Devon Dixon (52 hits, 40 RBI) and Dayton Dooney (53 hits, 56 RBI and nine home runs). The Vaqueros still have options in the bottom of the lineup, such as Seth Beckstead, who has homered for seven of his 25 hits.
“Number one, we have some depth on our pitching staff. Number two, we’re an older group,” Gilich said. “We have some older players, so that’s a lot of experience just around baseball, and it’s tough to be older in junior college. We’re kind of an older team, and that helps. On the offensive side, it’s just athleticism. We have some pretty good athletes, which adds some layers to our game as far as hitting and being able to run the bases. Those are some of the big things that we lean on.”
The Vaqueros are the only team of the 10 that will travel east for this year’s tournament. It’s a trip that’s become a staple of the program lately and one in which its players and coaches always are thrilled about.
“We’re excited to be there, the guys are really excited, and we’re anxious to be part of the Grand Junction community,” Gilich said. “Jamie Hamilton and everybody does such a great job. We’re excited to get back and have some fun experiences.”