ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt gave shout-out to Johnson County Community College baseball
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- JCCC rallied from a 9-3 deficit to win 10-9 in the NJCAA Division I World Series.
- Ashton Hartwig hit a walk-off three-run opposite-field home run for JCCC.
- ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt gave a national shout-out to the Cavaliers on SportsCenter.
The Johnson County Community College baseball team had just three losses on the season heading into Thursday night’s game.
But defeat No. 4 seemed to be coming in the National Junior College Athletic Association Division I World Series game in Grand Junction, Colorado. The Cavaliers trailed Midland College by six runs in the bottom of the eighth inning.
But JCCC rallied for an epic 10-9 win that drew national attention.
The comeback began with one out in the eighth inning when the Cavaliers drew two walks against Midland starter Logan Flores. Keller Lindeman came on in relief and gave up three straight hits as JCCC scored three runs and cut the lead to 9-6 heading into the ninth inning.
Colin Coonradt, Boston Bruce and Briggs Roe opened the bottom of the ninth inning with singles that made it a two-run game. Midland brought in pitcher Lane Schulz, who got an out before Ashton Hartwig stepped to the plate.
Hartwig hit a three-run opposite-field home run on the first pitch as JCCC got the walk-off victory and improved to 66-3 on the season. Here is the home run that capped a wild comeback win.
That earned JCCC a shout-out from ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt on “SportsCenter.” KSHB-TV’s Matt Foster shared this video of Van Pelt talking about the Cavaliers.
As the broadcaster noted, Hartwig hit his 10th home run of the season. Nine players have double-digit homers this season and the Cavaliers have 215 homers in 69 games and have a team average of .395 (no misprint there, as you can see the team stats here).
The Cavaliers play Blinn College on Friday night in the national-championship game.
