New Mexico Junior College will get to play for a second national championship in three years.
The Thunderbirds (55-7-1) will sit back and watch Chipola (Fla.) College (39-18) and Spartanburg Methodist (S.C.) College (53-14) play again at 2 p.m. today, then play the winner for the national title at 6:30 tonight at Suplizio Field.
“It doesn’t matter who we play,” New Mexico pitching coach Cory Hall said as he watched Friday night’s game. “It would be easier if we only have to win one game than two, but it doesn’t matter who we play to the kids or coaches. We’re hoping they run everybody out there.”
Chipola and Spartanburg threw a combined nine pitchers Friday night, but Spartanburg Methodist coach Tim Wallace wasn’t concerned.
“(Travis) Botts and (Trey) Delk haven’t thrown yet,” Wallace said. “If Delk can pitch, we’ll send him out there.”
Delk (9-1, 1.48 ERA) hasn’t pitched yet because of numbness in his right pitching arm. He is a transfer from the University of South Carolina.
Either way, the Pioneers are playing like they have nothing to lose.
“We’re not supposed to be here,” Wallace said. “We have less than three scholarships. We knew coming in (Friday) we had to win three games (to win the national title).”
Chipola coach Jeff Johnson, on the other hand, is disappointed with his team after its 10-6 loss Friday night to the Pioneers.
“We better come to play,” Johnson said. “We need to focus and take pride in the little things.”
Johnson will start his ace, Drew Parker, who is 1-0 with two saves in the tournament so far.
“Both (Chipola and Spartanburg) are good hitting clubs,” Hall said. “That is evident from simply looking at the numbers they’ve put up.”
Spartanburg entered Friday night’s game leading the tournament with a .393 batting average. New Mexico is second at .375 and Chipola was hitting .371 entering the game.
Hall said the Thunderbirds will pitch Matt Speake for the national title.
New Mexico, the No. 1-ranked team in the country, had to win three consecutive games to be in this position. The Thunderbirds, who defeated Young Harris (Ga.) College in their World Series opener, lost to Western Nevada Community College before bouncing back to eliminate Cowley County (Kan.) Community College, Western Nevada and San Jacinto (Texas) College-North.
“I think for us to win that first game after we got beat answered a lot of questions for us,” Hall said. “It could’ve been real easy for us to fold our tents. As a coach, you can think what you will about your team, but until you face adversity, you don’t know your team.
“These kids have the will to win. I wasn’t sure what kind of team we had until then. We showed desire to win and refused to get beat. That doesn’t mean we will win, but we will do anything we can to win.”
Hall knows the Thunderbirds can hit at anytime, making them a dangerous foe.
“It’s a blessing with our lineup,” Hall said. “With Coach B (Ray Birmingham) and (Gerrard) Pineda, if something is wrong, they get it fixed quick. We’re never out of a game. We were down 7-1 late (to San Jacinto on Thursday) and never felt like we were done.”
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Allen Gemaehlich can be reached via e-mail at agemaehlich@gjds.com.
