OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – The Johnson County Community College baseball team is off to a 14-2 start to its 2019 season, and as a result, have moved up from their preseason ranking of 16 to No. 12 in the current NJCAA poll.
Walters State takes over the top spot in the poll, ahead of previous top-ranked Central Florida. Wabash Valley, Florida Southwestern State and Southern Nevada round out the top five. The Cavaliers are the only team ranked in the top 20. Kansas Jayhawk Conference opponents Cowley and Fort Scott received votes.
Through 16 games, Johnson County is hitting .353 as a team, sixth-best in NJCAA Division I baseball. The also ranked 11th in both on base percentage at .448 and slugging percentage at .512.
On the mound, the Cavaliers' pitcher holding batters to a .175 average, third-best in the country, and the staff has combined for a 1.87 earned run average, ninth nationally.
Individually, sophomore transfer Anthony Amicangelo is off to a blistering start with his bat. He is hitting at .622 clip (23-for-37), best in the conference and second in the NJCAA. He has four doubles, three triples, scored 16 times and has driven in 14 runs.
Freshmen Landen Wood and Anthony Slaughter, and sophomore Blake Shannon are all hitting over .400. Wood is at .442 (198-for-43) with four doubles, two triples, 22 runs, and eight RBI. Slaughter is hitting .471 (8-for-17) with three doubles, five runs and seven driven in and Shannon is hitting .429 (12-for-28) with 13 runs and seven RBI.
Returning All-American Malik Williams is hitting .310 (13-for-32) with a team-high five doubles, a triple and 12 driven.
JCCC's top four starting pitchers are in mid-season form. Sophomore Zachary Ebert is 4-0 with an ERA of 2.05 and 34 strikeouts in 22 innings pitched.
Freshman Trey Ziegenbein is also 4-0 with an ERA of 1.00 with 35 strikeouts in 18 innings worked. Sophomore Sloan Thomsen is 3-0 with an ERA of 2.21 and 25 strikeouts in 20.1 innings and sophomore Dylan Bierman is 2-1 with an ERA of 1.59 with 22 strikeouts in 17 innings pitched.