ELLISVILLE – Jones College capped off an unbeaten 5-0 postseason run in Mississippi on Thursday night at Community Bank Park to capture its third NJCAA Region 23 Baseball Championship in program history and first since 2016.
The Bobcats defeated five ranked teams, including No. 1 Pearl River twice on its home field, and topped No. 16 Northwest 2-0 in the Ellisville Super Regional.
Jones (40-16) will be one of only 10 teams left standing for a chance to win a national title May 23-30 in Enid, Oklahoma, at the NJCAA Division II World Series.
The last time the Bobcats were in Enid, they won the first title in Mississippi's and the program's history. The first trip in 2011 resulted in a national runner-up finish.
With a chance to clinch the series over the Rangers Thursday night, Jones wasted no time putting pressure on Northwest starter Tyce Powers in the opening inning.
After
Sanders Ainsworth doubled and
Dylan Champagne walked,
Talan Theriot ripped a two-run single through the left side to give the Bobcats an early 2-0 lead.
The Bobcats added two more in the second.
Brayden Quick scored on a
Chase Russell walk before Ainsworth lifted a sacrifice fly to center that plated
Kelan Guidry for a 4-0 advantage.
Northwest answered with a run in the second inning, but Theriot delivered again in the third when he launched a solo homer to left field – his first of the season – to extend the lead to 5-1.
The Rangers chipped away with a run in the third and pulled closer in the fifth after a sacrifice fly from Hallas Lawson and a solo homer by South McCoy made it 8-4.
Jones had created breathing room earlier in the fifth thanks to one swing from
Warren Hutchinson. With the bases loaded and two outs, Hutchinson drilled a three-run double into the right-center gap, scoring Guidry, Quick and
Gage Reeves to push the lead to 8-2.
The Bobcats answered Northwest's fifth-inning rally immediately in the sixth. Champagne singled and Ainsworth reached after being hit by a pitch before Reeves ripped a two-run double into left-center, extending the lead to 10-4.
Northwest made one final push in the bottom half of the inning when John Whit Snopek blasted a two-run homer to cut the deficit to four.
That's when Hodges came in and slammed the door.
The freshman right-hander entered in the seventh inning with a runner on second and got a groundout and strikeout to end the threat.
Hodges then dominated the final 2.2 innings, allowing just one hit while striking out five to improve to 10-1 on the season.
Brayson Graham,
Canyon Reeves and Hodges combined for 13 strikeouts in the victory.
Theriot led the offensive attack by going 2-for-4 with a homer and three RBIs. Reeves finished 3-for-5 with two RBIs, while Hutchinson drove in three runs with his pivotal fifth-inning double. Ainsworth and Champagne each collected two hits as the Bobcats totaled 12 hits on the night.
Northwest was led by Hallas Lawson, who had two hits, while McCoy and Snopek each homered for the Rangers.
With the victory, Jones completed a dominant postseason run through Region 23 play and the Super Regional to secure its return trip to the national stage.
*Bracket and matchups to be announced on the NJCAA Network on Tuesday, May 19th at 5:30 PM ET.
