All-Tournament Team

WICHITA, Kan. – For the fourth consecutive season, the Johnson County Community College baseball team worked its way through the NJCAA Division 1 Baseball Plains District Tournament to claim an automatic berth into the NJCAA Division 1 Baseball JUCO World Series after winning six games in five days to extend its record-setting season.

After going 54-2 in the regular season and a perfect 32-0 in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference East Division, the number one ranked and top overall seed in the Plains District Tournament made quick work of their opening round opponent by defeating Garden City Community College 2-0 in a best-of-three series by earning a 19-7, eight-inning win followed by a 16-3, seven-inning win. More of the same was seen by JCCC on the opening day of action at Eck Stadium on the campus of Wichita State University as the Cavaliers overcame a 2-1 deficit in the fourth inning by erupting for six runs before going on to add another four runs in the bottom of the fifth to pick up an 11-3, seven-inning win over Seward County Community College to extend their winning streak to 41 straight games.

An unexpected turn for Johnson County came the following day as the number five seed Cowley College got its fifth opportunity of the season at the top-ranked team after having dropped all four games of a regular season conference series between the two teams just three weeks ago. Scoring the first three runs of the game over the course of the first three innings, Johnson County appeared to be in good shape to move into the winner’s bracket final, only to see Cowley battle back with single runs in the fourth and fifth innings to make it a 3-2 game heading into the bottom of the fifth. Getting both runs back in the bottom of the fifth to go up 5-2, JCCC’s lead quickly evaporated in the top of the sixth following a three-run home run from Cowley’s Jace Patton to tie the game before seeing a go-ahead RBI double from Easton Green put the Tigers up 6-5 heading into the bottom of the seventh. Limited to just one hit across the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings, Johnson County saw its one-run deficit grow in the top ninth as the first two Cowley batters safely reached base before an intentional walk with one out to load the bases, which was followed by a walk, two wild pitches, and a sacrifice fly to break the game open for the Tigers. Cowley went on to add one more run to plate five in the top of the ninth before retiring the Cavaliers in order to end the game and finish the upset of the tournament.

Faced with an afternoon elimination game the next day against number two nationally-ranked Cloud County Community College, Johnson County responded in a big way by jumping out to an early lead eventually breaking the game open after getting into the T-Bird bullpen by plating eight runs on six hits and an error in the bottom of the seventh as a walk-off three-run blast from Brayden Giesler put JCCC into the evening elimination game against number 10 seed Barton. Playing just hours later against an upstart Cougar team that had nothing to lose after having played three elimination games throughout the tournament, the Cavaliers fell into a 4-0 hole that grew to 6-0 heading into the bottom of the fifth while stranding four runners through the first four innings of action. 

Needing a spark to try and build momentum, JCCC got a lift from KJCCC East Division Freshman of the Year Ryan Bradford with a two-out solo home run to get Johnson County on the scoreboard. Another big momentum play came half an inning later as a base-hit single from Cougar Rhett Winchester led to an inning-ending out as a Barton base running mistake from Kyle Walker led to a rundown and out to bring the Cavaliers back to the plate, where two-straight hits to begin the inning led to a three-run inning to allow JCCC to get back within two at 6-4 heading into the seventh. Johnson County tied things up at 6-6 an inning later with a Boston Bruce two-run home run, just to see Barton respond by plating three of their own in the top of the eighth and flip momentum back in their favor as the Cavaliers once again needed a late rally. Stranding two runners in the bottom of the eighth, JCCC utilized three walks to begin the bottom of the ninth to load the bases before a throwing error on a fielder’s choice brought home a run for the Cavaliers and kept the pressure on the Cougars. After a strikeout, Bradford made his way back to the plate and saw the first two pitches thrown out of the zone before getting an ideal pitch on a 2-0 count to play the role of hero as a ball flew long into the darkness of the night to walk off Barton with a grand slam that tied the NJCAA single season individual home run record with his 38th home run of the season.

The late-night heroics from Bradford set up a rematch on Saturday afternoon with Cowley after the Tigers fell 4-3 in 10 innings to Kansas City Kansas Community College, with the winner getting the unbeaten Blue Devils in the first championship game later on in the day. Not wasting any time, Johnson County jumped out to a 3-0 lead with a sacrifice fly and Bruce's two-run home run in the bottom of the first before tacking on two runs in the fourth and another run in the fifth, which was more than enough support for Cavalier starting pitcher Lance Alexander. Going the distance on the mound, Alexander tossed a gem by needing just 95 pitches to toss a seven-inning, complete-game two-hitter while facing three batters over the minimum in a 9-1 win for Johnson County to avenge their Thursday night loss.

With work still to be done on Saturday, Johnson County had a quick turnaround to face a rested Kansas City Kansas team that had dealt with its own adversity throughout the tournament despite being unbeaten as the Blue Devils were one win away from clinching their second NJCAA JUCO World Series berth in program history. Falling behind 2-0 after a one-out home run from KCKCC’s Ian Woita, Johnson County responded in their own way in the bottom of the first as Bradford set the all-time NJCAA single-season home run record in his first at-bat of the game with his 39th home run before seeing Bruce drive home Logan Groh later in the inning to tie things up at 2-2. Kansas City Kansas responded in the third inning by pushing across four runs on four hits before tacking on another run in the fifth, only to see Johnson County put together a one-out rally that was sparked by Bradford’s second homer of the game as part of a five-run inning to tie the game back up at 7-7 heading into the fifth. Not done just yet, Bradford found his way back to the plate in the bottom of the fifth, where he smashed his third round-tripper of the game off the scoreboard in left field of Eck Stadium to give JCCC a 9-7 lead as the Cavalier offense was firing on all cylinders. Two more runs by Kansas City Kansas in the sixth tied things momentarily before seeing JCCC respond with two runs of their own as Johnson County went on to score six of the final seven runs of the game and close out a 15-10 win to force a winner-take-all game 15 on Sunday afternoon.

With the winner on Sunday set to punch their ticket to Grand Junction, Colorado, for the JUCO World Series, Johnson County took no chances in the final game of the tournament and scored two runs in the bottom of the first, followed by a single run in the bottom of the second to go up 3-0 heading into the third inning of action. The Cavaliers pushed across another single run in the fourth before breaking open a 4-1 lead in the bottom of the fifth by putting up a crooked number on Blue Devil starting pitcher Will Kennedy, with four runs coming home on four hits, with Colin Coonradt and Briggs Roe both hitting home runs in the inning. The 8-1 lead was more than enough for the Cavaliers to work with defensively as KCKCC managed to push across just one more run in the game in the top of the seventh that was matched by Johnson County offensively as the Blue Devils stranded five runners over the final three innings and never could put together a rally that put pressure on the JCCC defense.

Four Cavalier players earned their way onto the 2026 NJCAA Plains District All-Tournament Team, with Alexander, Bradford, Bruce, and Giesler all earning honors for their play during the tournament. Bruce was named the Tournament MVP after going 10-for-23 at the plate during the Cavaliers' seven-game stretch in Wichita with 13 RBI on the offensive end while catching all 57 innings behind the plate for JCCC and recording 55 putouts. Bradford hit a tournament-high six home runs and drove in 14 while hitting .346 (nine-for-26), and Giesler had a .444 (12-for-27) batting average with seven RBI and four extra-base hits. Alexander was one of four pitchers named to the All-Tournament team after making two appearances and tossing 8.2 innings, allowing two runs and striking out nine for the Cavaliers.

Johnson County will now await its official seeding among the 10 teams that have qualified for the 2026 NJCAA Division 1 Baseball JUCO World Series. Other teams to qualify for this year’s World Series include Harford Community College (MD), Miami Dade College, Walters State (TN), Wabash Valley College (IL), Blinn College, LSU-Eunice, defending National Champion Salt Lake Community College, Seminole State College (OK), and Midland College (TX).