MCCC Baseball Team Wins District Title, Returns to NJCAA Division II World Series for First Time Since 2017
5/20/22
West Windsor, N.J. - The Mercer County Community College (MCCC) baseball team is headed to the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division II World Series in Enid, Okla., for the first time since 2017. The Vikings captured the 2022 East District championship after putting up 31 runs in a Sunday doubleheader sweep.
The NJCAA Division II World Series begins on May 28. Mercer is the 10th seed (out of ten) and will be playing the 7th seed Murray State at 5 p.m. (4 p.m. CT). Games may be viewed live online via the NJCAA Network at njcaa.org/network. (Note: This is a pay-for-view service.)
Fresh off defeating Lackawanna on May 10 to capture the Region 19 championship, the Vikings traveled to Saugerties, NY, to play for the East District crown three days later. The Vikings won Friday’s opener 22-10 vs. Ulster CC before losing to UConn Avery Point on Saturday afternoon. With their backs against the wall, the Vikes answered back as they have all season by winning 19-2 over Sullivan CC on Saturday night and then sweeping UConn Avery Point in both games of Sunday’s doubleheader.
The Vikings’ bats overcame an early deficit in game one, plating 10 unanswered runs on the way to a 15-6 victory. Xavier Delgado and Jake Kmiec tallied three hits, a home run, and 4 RBIs apiece. It was a team effort, as the Vikes pounded out 21 hits, including 6 home runs from 6 different players. Pitcher Collin McLaughlin carried the load out of the pen, tossing six innings of relief, while yielding just a single run to pick up the victory.
Game two, the 16-5 district-winning victory, saw the Vikings jump out to an early lead they would never relinquish. Jarrett May led the way with a two-HR, 5-RBI day, and six Mercer hitters tallied at least 2 hits. Delgado, Matt Ervolina, and Anthony Bruno had three hits apiece; catcher Josearmando Diaz went 2-4 with a home run and 3 RBIs; the Vikings’ bullpen locked the game down as relievers Andrew Luczak, Ryan Conover, and Marco Martinez combined to throw 6 scoreless innings, while allowing just a single hit.
The Vikings improved to an impressive 7-0 in games when facing elimination this postseason, a stat which speaks to the team’s character.
“We have a strong-willed, determined group that fights for what they want,” said Mercer Head Coach Fred Carella. “They had their postseason taken away from them the last two years and are determined to not let anything get in their way this year. We challenged them with a difficult schedule, which helped them learn to play through adversity.”
While the Vikings have yet to find out who they will play first in Enid, Coach Carella says they will be ready for whatever the schedule throws at them.
“We are very excited for the opportunity to play for a National Championship. That was the goal we set at our first team meeting in August. Our guys have worked extremely hard to give themselves this chance, so we expect to go out there and win, plain and simple,” Carella said.
MCCC Vikings are triumphant after winning the East District Championship.
Mercer heads to the NJCAA World Series, which begins on May 28.