Richland Campus baseball is in the home stretch of the season, with 17 games left at press time.. Richland is currently second in the conference with a 12-4 record and in sixth in the division with a 23-15 record.
Head Coach Jimmy Brenneman said, “This year’s conference is a lot better top to bottom than it has been the last couple years.”
After the regular season is over in a few weeks, the team heads into the district tournament, which is double elimination. If the Thunderducks stay as the No. 2 seed they get a bye into the double elimination round. If the Thunderducks come out on top of the district tournament they will head to New York for the national series.
Some of the highlights of the season have been Richland’s 10-game winning streak at the beginning of March. The team started the streak with their three-series win against Dallas College Brookhaven Campus.
They then played and won their game against Western Oklahoma State College, a Division I school. After 3 one off games, Richland concluded their winning streak by taking their series against Cedar Valley Campus.
Another highlight for the Thunderducks has been that three of their players were awarded player of the week in both the NJCAA and the Dallas Athletic Conference.
In the first week, outfielder Sean Amarante was awarded National Junior College Athletic Association Division III player of the week. In week six, outfielder Trey Smith was awarded player of the week by the NJCAA. Smith was also awarded player of the week in the Dallas Athletic Conference, alongside teammate Oliver Tavarez, who was awarded pitcher of the week.
Brenneman said “I’m just happy for them you know, because they’re the ones out there playing. And the ones getting those awards are real big team guys, so a lot of the team have been happy for them.”
Richland’s baseball team won the national championship in 2009 but has not made it back since. The team came close last year making it to the semifinals, but lost in a 1-run game against Eastfield.
Right now, the Thunderducks are playing to keep their No. 2 seed in the district tournament, where they have a chance to advance to New York for the National Series.
