first step

The road to Enid, Okla., starts Friday at four locations in Mississippi. The MACJC postseason, the first step toward the NJCAA Division II World Series, begins with four best-of-3 playoff series. Top seed Jones County hosts Delta; No. 2 Meridian hosts Itawamba; No. 3 East Central hosts Gulf Coast; and fourth-seeded Northwest hosts Hinds. Jones fairly dominated the regular season, finishing 24-4, 4 games clear of the field. But three of the teams that beat the Bobcats are in the postseason: Meridian, Hinds and ICC. Even 8-seed Delta could be dangerous; the Trojans won their last five games, including a sweep of Hinds, to get into the postseason. Still, Jones, 41-5 overall and flush with talent, will be a tough out. The pitching staff is deep. Mason Irby is batting .434 with seven homers and 61 RBIs, and don’t overlook Clint Sasser, whose 44 steals rank No. 2 in the country. Other players to watch: Meridian’s Baylor Obert (.420); ECCC’s Cole Prestegard (.367, eight homers) and Channing Wall (11 saves, 1.87 ERA); Northwest’s LeeMarcus Boyd (.360, 39 runs); Hinds’ Chase Cockrell (.341, six homers) and Carlisle Koestler (9-3, 3.14); Gulf Coast’s Brian Lane (.391); ICC’s Timothy Rowe (.421, eight homers); and Delta’s Nathan Pilutti (.305, four homers, 11 steals). The four winners from the best-of-3 round meet in a double-elimination tourney for the state title, which Hinds won in 2015. The top three from the MACJC event advance to the NJCAA Region 23 Tournament, which is the doorway to Enid.