WACO, Texas (KXXV) — McLennan Community College took down Midland to clinch the Region V championship and a berth into the NJCAA world series.
"Our entire mentality this entire year has been next guy up, next guy up, and picking each other up," head coach Tyler Johnson said.
"It was rewarding and exciting — it just showed like all the hard work that we put in over the course of the season, the fall and the spring, all of it paying off," sophomore Aidan Kuni said.
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— McLennan Baseball (@mccbaseball1) May 15, 2024
JUNCTION BOUND! #McLennanFamily pic.twitter.com/UcJQmSaSAO
This is the second time in three seasons that the Highlanders are back in the world series, and the remaining players from last year's team love to see the consistency.
"The first year we did it, it was amazing. We had a great group of guys and stuff like that, but this year we're just compacted as one. We all have love for each other man. It's more of a team valued sport this year than it is an individual sport in JUCO like everybody else," sophomore Devin Bennett said.
MCC has a lot of rest time as they have nine days off and it couldn't have come at a better time for them.
"It's been a long season — we've played 60 games. We hadn't had a week off through that entire time," Johnson said.
"Pros, you get to rest a little bit, just get a lot of recovery. You know, we got a lot of guys injured," said freshman player, Daniel Harden.
"You know, take this time to rest and you know, get our bodies back under us before we leave."
