WNC Baseball Ranked 8th in NJCAA Preseason Poll
Baseball pollsters weren’t reluctant to include a young Western Nevada College squad among the top teams in their preseason rankings, given the Wildcats’ penchant for success over the past several years.
WNC, which made it to the JUCO World Series for the third time in program history last spring, has been ranked eighth in the Collegiate Baseball preseason poll. The honor came despite the fact that Head Coach D.J. Whittemore must replace 15 of his top 18 players from a team that posted a 48-17 record and won the NJCAA Western District title for a third time.
“It’s a byproduct of us being very successful in the last few years,” Whittemore said. “Our roster is very young, but it’s nice to get recognition. We’ll put that out of our minds and try to get better.”
Defending national champion Iowa Western topped the poll and was followed by San Jacinto North of Texas, and Gordon State, Ga.
Salt Lake Community College was the only other Scenic West Conference to be ranked among the top 20 teams. The Bruins are ranked 12th after winning the 2012 Scenic West Athletic Conference and NJCAA Region XVIII titles.
WNC will open the season on January 25 at the South Mountain tournament in Las Vegas. The Wildcats’ first home series is March 8-9 against Colorado Northwestern.