The Cochise College baseball team opens play at the NJCAA Division I World Series at 3 p.m. MST (2 p.m. Arizona time) Saturday against Blinn College of Texas.
The first round of games at Suplizio Field in Grand Junction, Colo., begins at 9 a.m. Saturday between Columbia State of Tennessee and Iowa Western, followed by Johnson County of Kansas against Midland, Texas, at noon. Chattahoochee of Alabama faces Delgado of Louisiana to wrap up Saturday’s schedule.
Blinn College, representing the Southern District, will make its first trip to the JUCO World Series since 1992 after winning the Region 14 championship. The Buccaneers were 21-19 in conference games and are 34-26 overall heading into this weekend.
To clinch the region title, Blinn defeated Navarro College 7-2, Alvin 6-3 and San Jacinto College-North 11-4, then dropped the title game of the double-elimination tournament 12-4 against Alvin before turning around to beat Alvin in the “if necessary” championship game 12-4 last weekend.
In 1992, Blinn took third place at the World Series. Prior to that appearance, the Bucs made it to Grand Junction in 1968.
This will be Cochise College’s second straight trip to the World Series as the champions of the Western District. The Apaches finished third in the nation last season. Cochise was also in the World Series in both 1988 and 1989.
If Cochise beats Blinn on Saturday, the Apaches advance in the winners’ bracket to play Monday afternoon against the winner of Chattahoochee-Delgado. If the Apaches lose Saturday, they face elimination at 2 p.m. Sunday against the Chattahoochee-Delgado loser.
Baseball fans can keep up with the Apaches through the tournament online and on the radio. Find Cochise College on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter at @CochiseCollege. The team provides in-game stats at cochise.edu/athletics/baseball/live-stats. Fans at home can follow and fans at the games can contribute to the Apaches’ World Series Tumblr site at apachesatjuco2014.tumblr.com.
The official Junior College World Series website at jucogj.org offers live audio, video and stats. In Douglas, all of Cochise’s games will be broadcast on KDAP FM 96.5.