NJCAA Division I Baseball Poll
The Marshalltown Community College Baseball team wrapped up the 2016 campaign with a solid postseason run in the Region XI Tournament that led to the school's most wins in a single season. For their efforts, the Tigers were rewarded with the program's highest ranking in school history, coming in at No. 19 in this week's NJCAA Division I Baseball poll.
MCC concluded the season with a 34-22 record that led to the team's first-ever appearance inside the top 20 of the national polls. The Tigers appeared in the "Others Receiving Votes" category on May 4 of this season. MCC also appeared in the "Others Receiving Votes" category in back-to-back weeks in 2005, but had never cracked the national rankings before today.
The Tigers had their first-ever Region XI Championship crown within reach this past weekend, falling just short to top-seeded Iowa Western Community College after forcing a winner-take-all matchup with the Reivers. MCC won five of its final seven games, including three in the postseason, to earn national recognition.
Iowa Western is the only other Region XI team to appear in the Division I rankings, coming in at No. 4 this week.
The Tigers' successful campaign was highlighted by a number of team and individual records, including tying a program mark with 11 players named to the NJCAA Division I All-Region XI team. The Tigers earned seven Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) Player of the Week honors along with two NJCAA National Player of the Week selections.
Individual records set include most wins in a single season by a pitcher (8- Juan Carlos Gonzalez and Kolton Gonnerman), most strikeouts (79- Juan Carlos Gonzalez), tied for most hits in a season (76- Enmanuel Lopez) and two players tied for fourth in the all-time hits category (121- Bennett Lopez and Logan Holtz).
