NJCAA Region X Tournament Begins Saturday
Leading the field entering the tournament is Florence-Darlington Tech (41-10), No. 8 in the NJCAA National Poll. 1B Gabe Craven has set the tone on offense, batting .311, with 14 HRs and 37 RBI. Stephen Dowling, Manny Felix, Nick Lacik, Matt Rubino, Randon Sandifer, and Mardu Smith have all hit .330 or better on the year to help form a potent offensive attack.
Both Louisburg College and Spartanburg-Methodist College, the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds in the tournament, have ridden Top 25 offenses nationally to provide a serious threat atop Region X.
Louisburg (47-7), No. 12 in NJCAA National Poll, are led by sophomore starter Tim Brechbuehler, who leads the NJCAA with an 11-0 mark, while garnering an impressive 2.16 ERA in 13 starts. Slugging 1B Zack Houchins ranks fourth in the nation with 15 HRs, and sports a .399 average.
Spartanburg-Methodist (39-15) is paced by super freshman Bruce Caldwell, who's hit a sizzling .421, while bashing 14 HRs, knocking in a Region X-high 59 runs, and adding 12 SBs.
USC Lancaster and USC Sumter, seeds 4 and 5, have also played winning ball this season. USC Sumter starter Tyler Smith is 11th in the country with a 1.12 ERA, while amassing an 8-1 record to go along with 89 strikeouts. Sumter sophomore Scott Price ranks in the Top 20 nationally with a .452 batting average, with 5 HRs, 28 RBI, and 42 runs scored.
The tournament functions as a traditional eight-team double-elimination tournament, with games beginning at 10 am on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. The schedule is as follows:
Saturday, May 5th
Game 1: #3 Spartanburg Methodist College, S.C. (39-15) vs. #6 Guilford TCC, N.C. (17-26) - 10 am
Game 2: #2 Louisburg College, N.C. (49-7) vs. #7 Pitt CC, N.C. (18-25) - 1 pm
Game 3: #4 USC Lancaster, S.C. (32-16) vs. #5 USC Sumter, S.C. (33-17) - 4 pm
Game 4: #1 Florence-Darlington TC, S.C. (41-10) vs. #8 USC Salkehatchie, S.C. (13-40) - 7 pm
Sunday, May 6th
Game 5: Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser - 10 am (elimination game)
Game 6: Game 3 Loser vs. Game 4 Loser - 1 pm (elimination game)
Game 7: Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner - 4 pm
Game 8: Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Winner - 7 pm
Monday, May 7th
Game 9: Game 5 Winner vs. Game 7 Loser - 10 am (elimination game)
Game 10: Game 6 Winner vs. Game 8 Loser - 1 pm (elimination game)
Game 11: Game 7 Winner vs. Game 8 Winner - 4 pm
Game 12: Game 9 Winner vs. Game 10 Winner - 7 pm (elimination game)
Tuesday, May 8th
Game 13: Game 12 Winner vs. Game 11 Loser - 3 pm (elimination game)
Region 10 Championship (Tues. 5/8 - Wed. 5/9)
Game 14: Game 11 Winner vs. Game 13 Winner - 7 pm (Tues. 5/8)
Game 15: IF NECESSARY - 2 pm (Wed. 5/9)