Tennessee’s Walters State Junior College continues to hold on to the top spot in the PG Crosschecker bi-weekly Top 25 junior college rankings, but has a significant obstacle in its path as it attempts to return to Grand Junction, Colo., for this year’s Junior College World Series. The Senators won the national title in 2006.

Walters State (52-7) squares off with the Georgia state champion, Young Harris (50-12), in the East Central District tournament this weekend in a best-of-3 series. Young Harris rose to No. 2 in this week’s ranking so the series will match the nation’s top two teams with a berth in the World Series on the line. The series, which starts Friday, will be played at Young Harris.

The Senators won five straight games to capture the Tennessee junior college (Region VII) tournament. They knocked off Volunteer State in the final 15-9, winning in typical Walters State fashion by bashing four home runs, including the 28^th of the season by freshman first baseman/DH Kyle Koeneman, the juco Division I home run leader.

The Senators continue to rack up mind-boggling statistics with a team batting average of .370 and 151 home runs on the year. Five Walters State hitters have 17 or more homers. Leading the power onslaught is Koeneman (.406-28-64), the team’s 6-hole hitter. Sophomore infielder Adam Stooksberry (.412-17-64), freshman third baseman Cody Hawn (.402-20-67), sophomore outfielder Adam Milligan (.399-18-63) and freshman catcher/outfielder Dylan Pratt (.362-21-61) all rank among the top 16 home run hitters nationally. Freshman catcher Jesse Wierzbicki (.426-9-30), meanwhile, leads the team in batting average while freshman outfielder Chad Hunter (.358-14-56) has stolen 35 bases on the year and is a catalyst at the top of the lineup.

Walters State has a team ERA of 4.24 with sophomore righthander David Francis (11-1, 3.68) and freshman lefthander Chad Bell (11-1, 3.74) the top two starters. The talented Senators should play a prominent role in the draft in June, with the possibility of eight to 10 players being drafted. But for all their offensive firepower, it’s possible that Francis and Bell might be the first two Senators players to be picked.

The Road to the Junior College World Series will be far from easy for Walters State as it faces a Young Harris team that won the Region XVII championship last weekend and is seeking a second straight trip to the juco series. The Mountain Lions don’t feature the offensive attack that Walters State has, but its pitching staff should measure up with sophomore righthanders Mark Swanson (11-0, 3.18) and Stephen McCray (10-2, 3.31) scheduled to work the first two games this weekend.

Defending Champs Qualify Again

Defending champion and No. 3-ranked Chipola JC (44-12-1) is heading back to the Junior College World Series after knocking off No. 21 Manatee CC (40-16), 6-0, in the deciding game of the Florida state (Region VIII) tournament.

Sophomore righthander Ryan Chaffee, selected the most outstanding pitcher at last year’s juco World Series, was masterful for the Indians in the championship game as he threw a four-hit shutout with 18 strikeouts. Chaffee, who broke a bone in his foot early in April and was sidelined for several weeks leading up to the tournament, was working on just two days rest after pitching in an 8-7 victory over St. Petersburg College en route to the final. Chipola ended a dream season for then No. 2-ranked Pensacola JC (43-8) with a 10-2 win in the semi-final round.

Two other teams that will join Chipola in Grand Junction May 24-31 for the 10-team Junior College World Series are from Texas, No. 9-ranked Alvin CC (39-16) and No. 15-ranked Grayson County CC (43-15).

Alvin survived a very difficult Region XIV field that featured No. 13 Navarro College (47-11) and No. 14 San Jacinto College (44-14). Grayson County claimed the Region V championship with an 8-1 victory over Clarendon (Texas) College (37-16). Clarendon got an unusual free pass to the championship game against Grayson County after a bench-clearing brawl in an earlier game led to a double forfeit.

No. 22 New Mexico JC (45-11), the national runner-up in 2007, and Weatherford (Texas) College (37-19) both saw their season and national tournament aspirations come to an abrupt end at the Region V tournament after they engaged in a brawl that lasted several minutes. Tournament officials declared the game a double forfeit. Since it was an elimination game for both teams, their seasons ended and the scenario gave Clarendon the equivalent of a forfeit win, sending it to the championship game. Grayson County beat Clarendon 8-1 in the final.

Texas’ No.10 Howard JC (48-10) made a quick exit from the Region V tournament, losing two straight games. The setback ended the season of arguably the nation’s top junior college player, shortstop Tyler Ladendorf, who was hitting a national-best .542 on the year with 16 home runs and 82 RBIs. Ladendorf is a possible first-round pick in this year’s draft.

JUCO Notebook

--TheCollege of Southern Nevada (44-14), which started the year ranked No. 1 by PG Crosschecker only to hit a midseason skid, has been on a roll lately. The Coyotes won the Region XVIII championship in three straight games to push their winning streak to 18 in a row. They climbed to No. 4 in this week’s junior college ranking. The Coyotes, who have been without the services of ace righthander Colby Shreve, who was hurt in late March and will undergo Tommy John surgery, will square off with No. 20 Central Arizona (40-20) and Colorado’s Trinidad State (35-26) in the Western District Championship. Southern Nevada Sophomore DH Brandon Trodick (.338-5-40) was named co-player of the year in the Region XVIII, while freshman righthander Taylor Cole (10-3, 1.38), who stepped up in Shreve’s absence, was named pitcher of the year. Sophomore outfielder Devin Shepherd (.341-1-25) continued his late-season surge and won most valuable player honors in the region tournament, going 9-for-14 with four RBIs. Shepherd was the No. 1-ranked junior college player in the nation entering the 2008 season.

--The California state junior college tournament, which began with 36 teams, got underway last weekend and there were no upsets in the first stage. No. 5-ranked Fresno CC (37-9), the top-ranked California team in the PG Crosschecker rankings and the No. 1-seeded team in northern California, handled Lassen CC (21-21) with ease in two straight games. No. 6 Santa Ana (34-11), the No. 1-seeded team in southern California, swept Ventura College. Defending state champion Riverside CC (29-17), seeded just 10^th among southern California teams, is still alive in the tournament after sweeping Chaffey College. Four regional tournaments this weekend will determine the four teams that will participate in the state tournament May 24-26 in Fresno. California schools do not participate in the Junior College World Series as they are not members of the National Junior College Athletic Association.

North Carolina’s Pitt CC (40-13) capped an improbable run though the loser’s bracket to win the Region X championship. The No. 16 Bulldogs dropped the first game of the double-elimination tournament then ran off six straight victories, includiung a 6-1 victory over state rival Louisburg College in the championship game. Sophomore shortstop Lonnie Chisenhall (.410-8-66) had a solid tournament for the Bulldogs and, along with Ladendorf, is expected to be one of the first two junior colleges players selected in the draft. Pitt meets Monroe (N.Y.) CC in the Eastern District tournament this weekend, with the winner advancing to Grand Junction.

--Western Oklahoma College freshman outfielder Juan Carlos Perez continues to add to his record-breaking season as he is now hitting .464 on the year with 36 homers and 98 RBIs. Perez has set Division II records for homers and RBIs, and is zeroing in on the all-time junior college record for home runs in a season of 38, set in 1999 by Division I Seminole State (Okla.) JC catcher Kade Johnson. Perez will get a chance to do that this weekend as Western Oklahoma takes on Arizona’s Phoenix College in a best-of-3 district series with a berth in the Division II World Series, scheduled May 24-30 in Millington, Tenn., at stake. Perez, who is from the Bronx, N.Y., and didn’t play organized baseball the last two years, isn’t even the most well-known player on his own team as fellow New Yorker Danny Almonte of Little League fame is also at Western Oklahoma and having a significant season in his own right, hitting .519 with 73 RBIs—both figures third in the country.