T-Bird (BB) Set to Face Grayson in 1st Round of Regionals
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The NMJC baseball team will face Grayson College in Denison, Texas May 8-10 in a best-of-three series in the first round of the Region V Tournament.
Each 9-inning game will start at 1 p.m. CDT at Dub Hayes Field. The game will be streamed live on TSBN sports here.
The T-Birds qualified for regional play with a third place-finish in the WJCAC standings. The winner of the series will travel to the highest remaining seed in the west (Odessa No. 1, Midland No. 2, NMJC No. 3, and El Paso CC No. 4) for the four-team super regional the following week.
NMJC is coming off a 37-18 record in the regular season that saw the Thunderbirds go 27-9 in conference. Offensively the T-Birds are first in the country in doubles with 167, second in extra base hits with 280, and third in the NJCAA in home runs with 91.
Sophomore Julius Ramirez led the T-Birds offensively from the DH spot batting .403 with 94 RBIs (NJCAA No. 2) and 24 homers (NJCAA No. 3).
Starting pitcher Brayan Orrantia is the ace on the mound for NMJC. Orrantia is No. 2 in the NJCAA in wins this season with an 11-2 record. The sophomore hurler has pitched 71.1 innings with a 3.15 ERA and 74 strikeouts.
Grayson College ended the season tied for first place with Weatherford College in the NTJCAC standings with a 33-20 (24-8) record. The Vikings lost the tiebreaker by one power point and moved to the No. 2 seed in the north to face the No. 3 seed NMJC from the west.
The Thunderbirds are familiar with Grayson College. The T-Birds faced the Vikings in last year's old 8-team regional tournament format. The T-Birds opened with a 9-2 loss in the first round to Grayson but bounced back later in the tournament getting revenge with a 10-5 win.
NMJC baseball head coach Michael Robbins is in his fifth season with the T-Birds. Coach Robbins has amassed a 162-65 record (71.37%) and 6-6 record at the Region V Tournament.
The T-Birds begin their quest for a Region V title starts Thursday, May 8 at 1 p.m. CDT against Grayson College in Denison, Texas.
