Cloud County Athletics
CHARLOTTE, NC - A week after matching what is believed to be the highest national ranking in program history, the Cloud County Community College baseball team has continued its ascent up the National Junior College Athletic Association Division I Baseball Top-20 Poll by earning a number 18 ranking in this week's Top-20 Poll released on Monday.
The ranking comes along with a number 22 ranking in the latest NJCAA Division I Top-25 poll released by TheJBB.Net as Cloud County moves made a move up three spots in the poll Tuesday morning.
Off to a 15-2 start to the season, Cloud County is coming off a 5-1 week that saw the T-Birds win their first five games of the week with doubleheader sweeps over Highland Community College and Kansas Wesleyan JV before splitting a non-conference road doubleheader at Johnson County Community College, a team that is receiving votes in this week's NJCAA Division I Top-20 Poll and is ranked number 19 in this week's TheJBB.Net Top-25 Poll.
The top-20 ranking in the NJCAA Division I Baseball Poll is one of two top-20 rankings by Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference teams as KJCCC East Division foe Cowley is ranked number 11 while Kansas City Kansas and Johnson County are both receiving votes.
Of the 171 teams in NJCAA Division I baseball this season, Cloud County currently ranks in the top-five in seven offensive categories which includes leading the country in batting average (.403) and hit-by-pitches (62) while ranking second in on-base percentage (.538), slugging percentage (.697), and sacrifice flies (18). As for the pitching staff, CCCC boasts the fifth-best batting average against (.206), 21st-best team earned run average (3.59) and has produced the ninth-most shutouts (three).
KJCCC play is scheduled to open later this week for Cloud County as the T-Birds will take on KJCCC West Division Preseason favorites Colby Community College in a four-game series with dates still being finalized due to an incoming winter storm. Originally scheduled to be played on Thursday and Saturday, the four-game series is now tentatively scheduled to be played on Sunday in Concordia and Monday in Colby. Any future schedule changes regarding Cloud County baseball games will be announced as they are finalized on www.cloudtbirds.com as well as the Cloud County athletics Facebook page (Cloud County Athletics) and Twitter page (@CCCCSports).