Cavaliers set to open JUCO World Series
Johnson County Community College |
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Doug Otto |
The Cavaliers have a great mix of starting pitching, defense and quality hitting. Leading the pitching staff are sophomore starters Travis Blankenship (Lawrence, Kan.) and Dustin Holthaus (Topeka, Kan.) and freshman Brandon Droge (Topeka, Kan.).
Blankenship, a left-hander, leads the team with an 11-3 record. He has an ERA of 2.59 and has 82 strikeouts in 81 innings of action. His 11 wins tie the season record at JCCC, and his 17 total career victories are a new school record. Blankenship, who has signed with the University of Kansas, also ranks first all-time in career innings pitched (150), career games started (27) and ranks second in career strikeouts with 130, just four off the record.
Holthaus ranks third on the staff with a 7-2 record. He has an ERA of 2.57 with 39 strikeouts in 65.1 innings of work. Holthaus ranks tied for ninth all-time in career wins at JCCC with 13, and is tied for 12th with 17 career starts. The right-hander out of Hayden High School will continue his playing career at Washburn University.
Droge, another Hayden graduate, leads the squad in innings pitched with 93 and ERA at 1.20. His 93 innings are season record, and his ERA ranks among the top 15 in the NJCAA. The left-hander has a record of 8-2 this season, and leads the team with seven complete games, including a 10 strikeout effort in win over Cloud County in the first round of the Region VI Tournament.
At the plate, the Cavaliers are hitting at a 342 clip, which ranks among the top teams in the country. Sophomore Doug Otto of Jefferson City, Mo, freshman John Lenherr of Windom, Kan., and sophomore Parker Amos of Shawnee Mission Northwest High School are three key producers in the Cavaliers’ lineup.
Otto, who was voted the MVP of the East Jayhawk Conference, is batting .416 (74-for-178) with 18 doubles, five triples, five home runs, 46 RBI and 60 runs scored. His 18 doubles rank third for a season at JCCC, and his 60 runs tie the sixth-best season in team history. Otto has 20 multiple-hit games and 11 multiple-RBI games in 2008. He also ranks second with 27 stolen bases.
Lenherr, an all-conference selection in the outfield, is batting a team best .417 (78-for-187) with 14 doubles, two triples, a home run, 52 runs and 4 RBI. His 78 hits also lead the team and rank second all-time in team history, just five away from the record. Lenherr has 24 multiple-hit games, with 10 games of three or more hits. He also 10 multiple-RBI games.
Amos, also an all-conference outfielder in 2008, returned to his hometown this year after spending his freshman season at Neosho County, and it as proven to be a banner season for him. Amos is batting .398 (72-for-181) with 13 doubles, three triples, a home run and 51 RBI. He also has 14 stolen bases. His 72 hits are the sixth highest season total in team history. Amos has 21 multiple-hit games in 2008.
Other key producers for JCCC are sophomores Jeremy Francis, Mitchell Mathis, Chad Griffin, and freshmen Drew Garwood and Nate Thomas. Francis ranks fourth in the nation with 43 stolen bases. He is hitting .305 (52-for-174) with six doubles, a triple, two home runs and 25 RBI. Francis, an Emporia native, ranks 11th all-time in career hits with 113, and third in career stolen bases with 64.
Mathis, a local product out of Shawnee Mission West, is hitting .333 (53-for-159) with nine doubles and 19 RBI. He also has been masterful directing the pitching staff behind the plate.
Griffin, a transfer from Emporia State University, is batting .280 (42-for-150) with six doubles, a triple, five home runs and 40 RBI. His five homers tie for the team lead.
Garwood is batting .317 (44-for-139) with eight doubles, a triple, five home runs and 28 RBI. He too is tied for the team lead with five round trippers. The St. Joseph native has 13 multiple-hit and seven multiple-RBI games this season.
Iowa native Thomas has a .339 average (42-for-124) with seven doubles, three home runs and 27 RBI. He also has 12 multiple-hit and seven multiple-RBI games on the season.
Shelton State returns to the World Series after making an appearance last year. The Bus are led offensively by Tyler Horne and Clay Jones. Horne leads the team with 72 RBI, which rank among the 10 nationally. He is hitting .335 with 14 doubles, two triples and 10 homers. Jones is batting a team best 422. He also leads the team in hits (89), doubles (21) home runs (12) and ranks second with 57 RBI. On the hill, Jonathan Smart is the Bucs ace. He stands 8-2 overall with an ERA of 3.84. He has 66 strikeouts in 86.2 innings of work.
