Article by Chuck Curti at Black College Nines: Javion Randle of Jarvis Christian College: One of NAIA’s Best

Excerpt: “I feel like if Javion was playing at a Division I school, he’s probably a top-10 rounder. I think he’s a kid who you can plug into just about anyone’s team in the country. I don’t care what level it is, you’re not going to find any program in the country that has three better outfielders than this kid.” - Jarvis Christian Coach Michael Holochuck

Tuesday, 22 March 2016 15:27

Top 25 and recap for March 22

NAIA coaches' poll for March 22, 2016. Recaps below.

RANK

PRVS

SCHOOL

RECORD

TOTAL
POINTS

1

1

Faulkner (AL)

26-4

498

2

2

Lewis-Clark State (ID)

20-2

481

3

3

Georgia Gwinnett

29-1

459

4

4

Auburn Montgomery (AL)

25-6

445

5

5

Bellevue (NE)

19-4

439

6

6

Westmont (CA)

23-4

423

7

7

USC Beaufort (SC)

25-4

396

8

8

Lindsey Wilson (KY)

22-9

363

9

10

Jamestown (ND)

26-1

360

10

12

Tennessee Wesleyan

18-7

355

11

11

Keiser (FL)

23-6

353

12

13

Tabor (KS)

21-8

320

13

9

MidAmerica Nazarene (KS)

17-3

301

14

20

Missouri Baptist

20-6

299

15

15

Oklahoma City

21-9

268

16

RV

York (NE)

22-5

241

17

14

Freed-Hardeman (TN)

20-7

235

18

18

Vanguard (CA)

21-7

232

19

RV

Middle Georgia State

24-8

222

20

23

Bryan (TN)

21-7

190

21

21

Sterling (KS)

20-7

154

22

22

Davenport (MI)

12-7

143

23

17

LSU Shreveport (LA)

18-9

120

24

RV

William Carey (MS)

20-8

95

25

RV

St. Thomas (FL)

20-11

91

 

Tuesday, 15 March 2016 11:57

Top 25 and recap for March 15

NAIA coaches' poll for March 15, 2016. Recaps below.

RANK

PRVS

SCHOOL

RECORD

TOTAL
POINTS

1

3

Faulkner (AL)

20-4

488

2

1

Lewis-Clark State (ID)

16-2

451

3

8

Georgia Gwinnett

25-1

443

4

13

Auburn Montgomery (AL)

20-5

442

5

12

Bellevue (NE)

17-4

426

6

16

Westmont (CA.)

19-3

388

7

NR

USC Beaufort (SC)

24-3

368

8

7

Lindsey Wilson (KY)

19-7

362

9

NR

MidAmerica Nazarene (KS)

15-1

340

10

NR

Jamestown (ND)

23-0

318

11

15

Keiser (FL)

20-7

317

12

14

Tennessee Wesleyan

14-7

287

13

4

Tabor (KS)

15-8

279

14

18

Freed-Hardeman (TN)

16-5

272

15

5

Oklahoma City

17-8

270

16

NR

Bethel (TN)

17-3

253

17

11

LSU Shreveport (LA)

16-5

245

18

22

Vanguard (CA)

19-6

211

19

9

Oklahoma Wesleyan

16-7

201

20

21

Missouri Baptist

16-6

142

21

20

Sterling (KS)

17-6

136

22

6

Davenport (MI)

11-7

126

23

23

Bryan (TN)

17-7

124

24

NR

Science & Arts (OK)

20-5

113

25

NR

Menlo (CA)

21-8

488

The Bellevue Bruins are ranked #1 by Perfect Game. This makes sense. The Bruins are 17-4, despite playing most of their games on the road, and have quality wins over Oklahoma City, Tabor, and Mount Vernon Nazarene.

Last week, they played six games in a tournament hosted by Warner, and won five of them, including the tournament championship game against host Warner. One of the wins was 23-0 over Saint Ambrose. Braulio Torres-Perez pitched a no-hitter for the Bruins. He struck out ten of the 23 batters he faced, and walked two batters. On the offensive side, C Jake Browne hit two home runs and a double, and batted in ten runs. RF Colton Nash, who leads the Bruins in hitting with a .443 average, went 3-for-3 with a double and four RBI. Story

The Bruins won the tournament final 4-3 in ten innings. SS Connor Garrison hit an RBI single for the winning run. Kevin Rodriguez got the win in a 4 2/3 innings relief appearance; he allowed only one hit, and struck out five. Story

Torres-Perez is 4-0 for the season, has an ERA of 1.47, and has struck out 32.

LHP Blake Marbut threw only 59 pitches in a seven-inning 3-0 win over Union College (KY). He struck out five. The Eagles recorded another shutout on the second game of the double-header. That one was scoreless after the scheduled seven innings, and DH Alex Keown scored the winning run in the bottom of the eighth on a ground ball by LF Brandon Moss. Story

The College of Idaho has started their season with four wins at Arizona Christian, and four wins at home against Division II Minot State. In one of the four games against Minot State, RHP Mason Stidham and LHP Kaleb Price combined for a no-hitter in a 13-0 win.

It was the Coyotes' first no-hitter since 1958. Stidham pitched six innings, struck out two, walked one. Price pitched three innings, struck out three, and walked two. Stidham is a transfer from Division I Seattle U. Price is a transfer from Big Bend CC, and was All-Northwest Athletic Conference in 2014. Story

The Coyotes' streak could go on for a while. They have eleven winnable games ahead of them prior to a series at home against defending champion and cross-state rival Lewis-Clark State. The eleven games include two at home against Division III Puget Sound, and two at non-NAIA Bethesda.

Their small college preview includes the NAIA, and it's here: Small College Preview, by J.J. Cooper.

Like the coaches' poll, they have L-C State and St. Thomas #1 and #2, but they have Lindsey Wilson and Davenport at #3 and #4.

The preview provides a couple of new names, 3B/RHP Lucas Erceg of Menlo and RHP Alex Martinez of Oklahoma Wesleyan. Erceg is a transfer from U. of California, and was All-Pac-12 last year. He's played in six games already this year, is batting .292. Martinez is a Dominican Republican who transferred from De Anza College.

 

 

Sunday, 15 November 2015 17:36

2016 Preseason top 25

The 2016 NAIA Baseball Coaches’ Preseason Top 25 Poll (Nov. 10)

RANK PRVS^ SCHOOL 2015 RECORD TOTAL POINTS
1 1 Lewis-Clark State (ID) 46-12 467
2 2 St. Thomas (FL) 48-18 448
3 3 Faulkner (AL) 51-15 437
4 7 Tabor (KS) 54-12 417
5 11 Oklahoma City 46-13 397
6 9 Davenport (MI) 51-12 395
7 10 Lindsey Wilson (KY) 41-19 385
8 13 Georgia Gwinnett 50-14 354
9 14 Oklahoma Wesleyan 49-14 324
10 24 The Master’s (CA) 42-14 321
11 15 LSU Shreveport (LA) 46-14 303
12 16 Bellevue (NE) 46-15 292
13 18 Auburn Montgomery (AL) 40-18 285
14 12 Tennessee Wesleyan 45-12 278
15 20 Keiser (FL)
(formerly Northwood)
42-14 270
16 19 Westmont (CA) 41-17 242
17 17 Northwestern Ohio 45-15 233
18 23 Freed-Hardeman (TN) 37-16 205
19 22 Campbellsville (KY) 30-13 184
20 21 Sterling (KS) 47-15 178
21 RV Missouri Baptist 43-13 167
22 8 Vanguard (CA) 39-22 154
23 25 Bryan (TN) 46-18 130
24 RV LSU Alexandria (LA) 39-16 91
25 RV Rio Grande (OH) 35-22 76

 First place votes: Lewis-Clark State 17

Thursday, 05 November 2015 06:56

Interview with Saint Thomas Coach Jorge Perez

Jorge Perez is the Head Coach of the Saint Thomas University Bobcats. The Bobcats were runners-up at the NAIA Baseball National Champiosnip last season, and Perez was selected ABCA/Diamond Regional Coach of the Year. His record at Saint Thomas over seven seasons is 240-172.

Bob Broughton, courtesyrunner.com: In the final game of the National Championship tournament last Spring, you led Lewis-Clark State 7-1 after five innings, and 7-4 after seven innings. What was going through the minds of you and your players at that stage of the game?

Jorge Perez: We did not get caught up in the score of the game.  We were living in the moment and thinking pitch-by-pitch.

BB: But you got two big wins in the tournament over Oklahoma Baptist and Faulkner. Tell us about them.

JP: We felt good vs. Oklahoma Baptist. We led the entire game and played very well. Faulkner’s game was a true indication of the character of this team. We played the entire 27 outs.

BB: And on the way, you got a shutout against a good Westmont team.

JP: Our ace Marcos Barrios pitched great and we got several clutch hits when we needed them.

Wednesday, 04 November 2015 22:53

2016 Preseason All-Americans

The headliners are DH Keivan Berges of Keiser (Formerly Northwood FL) and LHP Adam Hines of LSU-Shreveport. Berges batted .333 with 156 home runs last season. Hines had an ERA of 0.96, and pitched seven complete games, including four straight. OF Colton Nash of Bellevue batted .352, hit grand slam home runs in three consecutive games. RHP Curtis Taylor of British Columbia had an ERA of 1.02. SS Cabe Reiten of Lewis-Clark State batted .411, started all 58 games.

Pos.

Name

Institution

Class

Hometown

C

Ryan Crowe

Westmont (Calif.)

Sr.

Ladera Ranch, Calif.

C

Scott Morton

Briar Cliff (Iowa)

Sr.

Ventura, Calif.

1B

Alex Bush

Westmont (Calif.)

Sr.

Menifee, Calif.

2B

Houston Looser

Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.)

Jr.

Muscle Shoals, Ala.

3B

Alex Couch

Tabor (Kan.)

Sr.

Castlewood, Va.

SS

Cabe Reiten

Lewis-Clark State (Idaho)

Sr.

Spanaway, Wash.

UT

Wardy Polanco

Tennessee Wesleyan

Sr.

Haverstraw, N.Y.

DH

Keivan Berges

Keiser (Fla.)

Jr.

Wellington, Fla.

OF

Logan Coughlin

IU Southeast (Ind.)

Sr.

Brownsburg, Ind.

OF

Jordan Espino

Sterling (Kan.)

Sr.

Buena Park, Calif.

OF

Preston King

Bryan (Tenn.)

Sr.

Kingston, Tenn.

OF

Colton Nash

Bellevue (Neb.)

Sr.

Bonney Lake, Wash.

SP

Adam Hines

LSU Alexandria (La.)

Sr.

Bunkie, La.

SP

Victor Arche

Faulkner (Ala.)

Sr.

Miami, Fla.

SP

Brandon Guske

Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.)

Jr.

Spring Hill, Tenn.

SP

Phillipe Graham

MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.)

Jr.

St. Chrysostome, Quebec

RP

Curtis Taylor

British Columbia

Jr.

Port Coquitlam, B.C.

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