OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – The start to the 2019 college baseball season is just a week away and the Johnson County Community College will open its season as a consensus Top-25 ranked team. The Cavaliers appear in all five preseason polls. Baseball America has them at No. 14, followed by the NJCAA at No. 16, Perfect Game at No. 17, JUCO Baseball Blob at No. 21 and Prep Baseball Report at No. 23.
In addition, six members of the Johnson County team were recently named to the Perfect Game Top 300 Junior College Prospect list for the 2019 Major League Baseball Draft. Sophomore right-handed pitcher Cam Wynne (Lincoln HS/Lincoln, Neb.) earned the highest ranking at No. 6. The five others on the list were sophomore outfielder/infielder Anthony Amicangelo (Bremerton HS/Bremerton, Wash.) at No. 62, sophomore outfielder Jacob Owens (St. James Academy/Shawnee, Kan.) at No. 100, sophomore All-American first baseman Malik Williams (Satec HS/Toronto, Ontario) at No. 197, sophomore right-handed pitcher Zach Ebert (Washburn Rural HS/Topeka, Kan.) at No. 226 and freshman right-handed pitcher Drew Garrrett (Hickman HS/Columbia, Mo.) at No. 277.
Perfect Game describes Wynne as possessing an electric arm and he will light up the radar guns all year. He has already touched 98 mph, and also throws a hard-biting slider. Last season he appeared in 21 games and had 23 strikeouts in 21 innings worked. Wynne was 1-0 and held opposing hitters to a .258 batting average. This season, Wynne is projected to be the team's closer.
Amincangelo transferred to JCCC from Shoreline Community College in Shoreline, Wash., last spring and sat out while rehabbing a from a shoulder injury. He is coming off a successful summer playing for the Lima (Ohio) Locos in the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League. Amincangelo hit .366 in 31 games and earned All-Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League first-team. As a prep, he twice was selected All-State by the Washington State Baseball Coaches Association. Amincangelo will continue his career at Washington State University next year.
Owens possesses some of the best tools that the JCCC coaches have seen in a while. As a freshman Owens batted .335 (71-for-212) with 10 doubles, seven triples, four home runs, 59 runs scored and 49 driven in. He also drew 31 walks and stole 14 bases, both second-most on the team. He had 20 multiple-hit and 13 multiple-RBI games. Owens will continue his career at Wichita State University next year.
Williams joined the Cavaliers last spring after attending Odessa College in Texas in the fall of 2017, and he made a tremendous impact last season. He was selected third-team NJCAA All-American and first-team All-Region VI and All-East Jayhawk Conference after hitting on a .397 clip (89-for-224) with 15 doubles, two triples, a team-high 17 home runs, 62 runs scored and a team-high 78 runs driven in. His 89 hits are the third-most recorded by a player in team history, and he set a new team record with 31 multiple-hit games.
Ebert was one of the aces on the Cavaliers' pitching staff last season and was an all-conference second-team selection. He made 14 starts, completing eight games, and finished with a record of 7-5 with 105 strikeouts in 81.0 innings on the hill. His 105 strikeouts rank third on JCCC's season chart and were just three shy of the record. That total also ranked fourth in the conference and 18th in the NJCAA.
The only freshman from JCCC to make the list, Garrett started one season at Hickman High School in Columbia, Mo, and helped the Kewpies make the Missouri Class 5 championship game that season. He posted a record of 1-1, a 3.94 ERA and 28 strikeouts in 14 innings on the mound. For the Cavaliers. Garrett is projected to be a stopper out of the bullpen and could make some spot starts.