The new-look San Jacinto (Texas) College-North baseball team still plays like the five guys on the JUCO Golden Anniversary team did in their day.

Dressed in their home whites, wearing white shoes and — gasp! — white caps, the Gators slugged past Cowley County (Kan.) Community College 11-3 on Sunday night in the final first-round game of the Alpine Bank Junior College World Series.

“They talked me into them, but I think it was a mutual thing,” San Jacinto coach Tom Arrington said of the white caps. “I was looking for some change. I don’t think the old coaches and players like it too much. We gave (the Golden Anniversary Gators) the green hats, but we’re sticking with the white; we like that. We still have the green.”

No matter what uniform they chose, the Gators put on a show Sunday.

“They’re mashing right now,” said the recipient of all those runs, San Jacinto starter Hank Williamson. “We’ve scored 10 or more runs our last nine games. There’s no way we can lose if we keep hitting that way.”

Cowley County, which entered the tournament with a reputation for hitting the ball all over the park, couldn’t solve Williams’ split-fingered fastball.

“Our guys didn’t quit, that never entered our mind,” Cowley County coach Dave Burroughs said. “We couldn’t get a ball in the gap. Sometimes you have to give that guy on the mound a little credit.”

With Williamson mixing his fastball with some good off-speed pitches to keep the Tigers guessing, the San Jac hitters teed off against Lance Hoge.

Three first-inning doubles banged off the wall as the Tigers gave chase, and San Jac had a 5-0 lead after sending 10 men to the plate.

Kris Miller doubled to lead off the second and trotted home on a jaw-dropping home run to right by Jeremy Barfield, the son of Jesse Barfield, who played for Toronto and the New York Yankees during his 13-year major league career.

“My dad flew in today,” said Jeremy Barfield, a 6-5 freshman right fielder who got a big hug from his dad after the game. “I think he made it for my home run. His flight came in at 7:40, so I saved the home run for when he got here.”

Eric Fry added a solo home run in the fourth to push the lead to 10-2.

With the biggest crowd of the tournament so far (10,328) entertaining itself by trying to sustain the wave throughout Suplizio Field, the Gators were more than happy to run around the bases.

“I wanted to score five in each inning and that didn’t work out,” San Jacinto coach Tom Arrington said. “The defense was good, no errors … They’re a pretty good swinging team; I think they’re better than what they showed tonight, but I think our guy (Williamson), you have to give him a lot of credit.”

Some solid defense helped. With the bases loaded in the sixth inning, Tyler Fleming hit a shot down the third-base line. Trey Sperring fielded it behind the bag, righted himself and threw a laser across the diamond for the third out.

“That was a great defensive play by Sperring on the ball at third to be able to throw 92 (feet) across the diamond and get one of their fastest runners,” Arrington said.

The first inning did in the Tigers.

Tanner Hines, a slender but speedy leadoff man, singled. Miller laced a double off the wall in right-center, scoring Hines. A single to right by Brandon Belt scored another run, and with one out, Barfield swung from the heels, driving a shot to the left-center field wall.

Another wallbanger by Taylor Hammack put Barfield at third and he scored on Sperring’s sacrifice fly. An infield single by Kyle Henson got the fifth run home and Williamson was set.

He allowed three runs on seven hits in 6 1/3 innings, struck out nine and walked four.

San Jacinto finished with 15 hits, seven of them doubles and two more home runs.

“Our coaches tell us it’s a zero-zero ballgame, we have to put runs on the board,” Barfield said. “Our lineup is relentless.”

Barfield gets plenty of advice from his dad and his brother, Cleveland second baseman Josh Barfield.

“He tells me a lot and so does my brother,” Jeremy said. “I get it from both directions and it really helps me with my approach to the game.”

It’s not too much coaching, though.

“You know what, when I have a lot in my head, I take stuff and put it together. It doesn’t hurt; the more people, the better,” he said.

The Gators are intent on winning their first championship since 1990, white caps and all.

“They’re pretty locked in,” Arrington said. “They have a lot of energy, moreso than any team I’ve had. They have a lot of intensity and a lot of drive.”

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Patti Arnold can be reached via e-mail at parnold@gjds.com.