Vaqueros’ coach Wente serves suspension in loss

By Patti Arnold
Sunday, June 5, 2011

The NJCAA Executive Committee voted Saturday to overturn the suspension of Central Arizona College baseball coach Jon Wente for the championship game of the Alpine Bank Junior College World Series.

Wente, however, elected to serve the suspension. After the game, a 6-4, 10-inning win by Navarro (Texas) College, Wente came onto the field and congratulated the coaches and shook every Navarro player’s hand.

“I feel like I made a mistake and feel that I tell these guys to be a champion on and off the field and be responsible for your actions,” Wente said after the game.

“The mistake was made by myself. I’m (grateful) to the NJCAA for giving me an opportunity, but I don’t think if I was in the dugout, I could have looked myself in the mirror or looked these guys in the eye and say this is what this program is about and sit the dugout with them when I screwed up.”

The Executive Committee, in a teleconference, agreed unanimously that Article XVIII of the NJCAA bylaws were properly applied when Wente was suspended for failing to report a player ejection by the deadline.

The bylaw requires a coach or athletic director to report to his or her regional director by noon the day after a player or coach is ejected.

However, the committee decided by majority vote that the presence of three NJCAA officials at the Thursday game, when Jordan Lane was ejected for arguing a close play at the plate, could act as notification of the ejection.

As a result, the NJCAA said in a release, Wente was eligible to coach Saturday.

Wente’s suspension could not have been served Friday night, NJCAA officials said, because that was the day Lane was serving his suspension.