OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – Johnson County Community College dropped back one spot to No. 2 in the NJCAA D-I Baseball Top-20 rankings despite winning a series against No. 16 Cowley Community College. Gaston College received four first place votes, one more than the Cavaliers, to move head of JCCC. Gaston was ranked No. 1 back on April 1.
With Johnson County and Cowley tied in their chase for first place in the Kansas Jayhawk Conference race, the 3-1 series win put the Cavaliers in the driver's seat with four games remaining in the regular season.
Johnson County took the first game 10-7, plating four runs in the top of the eighth inning and followed with a 13-3 win, fueled by six-runs in the first and fourth innings.
In the opener, the bottom portion of Johnson County's lineup was strong. Miken Miller, Jesse Tisdell, Ryker Edwards and Jordan Black combined for nine of the team's 13 hits, scored six runs and drove in four.
The Cavaliers jumped out to an early lead in the top of the second with Edwards driving in a run with a triple and later Black blasting a two-run home run over the left field fence.
Dagan Brewer, the top run producer in the KJCCC this season, put the Cavaliers up 5-1 with a two-run blast to right field in the top of the third, but the Tigers came in the bottom half the inning with four runs to pull even.
Cowley went up 6-5 in the sixth, but Jack Mosh tied it back up at 6-6 with a solo shot in the top of the seventh.
Johnson County took the lead for good in the top of the eighth with Edwards, Tisdell, Jake McClure and Brewer each crossing the plate for a run.
Maddox Burkitt earned the victory for the Cavaliers. The right-hand reliever allowed three hits and one run over two and two-thirds innings, striking out two batters.
In the second game, the Edwards, Brewer, Miller, Black and Maddux Fleck were the key runs producers in the 10-run victory.
Edwards drove in four runs on the three hits. He hit a three-run homer in the first and had an RBI single in the third.
Brewer had a two-run double, and Miller drove in a run with a single to account for the other three runs in the Cavaliers six-run first inning.
Johnson County blew the game open with another six runs crossing the plate in the fourth innings. Miller singled home a run, Black had a two-run single, Tisdell doubled scoring a run and Fleck singled home two runs.
Josiah Golden picked up the victory. The starting right-hander allowed five hits and three runs over three and two-thirds innings. Brody Bunting pitched the final one and one-third innings giving up no hits or runs with two strike outs.
Johnson County (43-9, 25-3) will face cross-town rival Kansas City Kansas in both team's final four-game series of the regular season. The first two will take place on the Blue Devils' home diamond on Friday May 3, then the series will close out with a twin-bill at JCCC on Saturday, May 4 with the first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m.