should be good

Jones County Junior College, unbeaten and ranked No. 7 in NJCAA Division II, makes the long trip from Ellisville to Senatobia on Wednesday to play Northwest Mississippi Community College in an intradivision doubleheader that should give us a good read on two of the state’s best teams. JCJC, coached by Christian Ostrander, is 14-0, led by the hitting of Trent Giambrone (.447, 17 RBIs, six steals) and Josh Pankratz (.372) and the arm of Westin Stringer (4-0). Northwest, coached by Mark Carson, is 8-4 and was the highest ranked Mississippi juco in the preseason poll at No. 14. NWCC has used six different starting pitchers, with Cody Waddell having the best numbers (2-0, 0.58 ERA). Kramer Hollenbach is batting .457 with 13 RBIs for the Rangers, Jay King is at .436 with 10 RBIs and Luke Latham has five homers and 13 RBIs. NWCC has 10 homers as a team – and it’s not easy to hit balls out in college baseball anymore. JCJC hasn’t done it. That could be a factor. The first of the two games is slated for a 2 p.m. first pitch at Jim Miles Field. It’ll be cold, sure, but these clubs will warm to the task.