When Gina VanArsdall steps on the softball field with the rest of her Phoenix College teammates, opponents have no idea she is who they will face in the batter's box.

"They think I'm a coach," she said. "I say, 'Nope, I'm a player.'"

VanArsdall is 37, a year short of her 20-year high school reunion at Glendale Independence, 15 years removed from her previous college season, with four children ranging from age 10 to 20 cheering her in the bleachers as she throws the ball past 19- and 20-year-olds.

Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/sports/articles/2012/05/15/20120515-year-old-softball-junior-college-pitcher-phoenix-gina-vanarsdall-world-series.html#ixzz1v6MLWjjY

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The 2012 NJCAA Division III World Series is set with eight talented teams ready to compete for a national championship at Mike Carter Field in Tyler, Texas May 19-25. This year’s bracket features several prominent teams, including Tyler Junior College (Texas) who has served as the host of the tournament since 2007.

Fans can follow the eight-team double-elimination tournament via the official tournament website. Once there fans will be able to access live updates, stats and more.

Live video and play-by-play of each game can be seen LIVE on NJCAA TV (www.njcaatv.ihigh.com) thanks the Tyler Junior College and the Texas Sports Radio Network.

Six of the eight teams in this year’s bracket have participated in the tournament within the last three years. Joliet JC (Ill.) and Gloucester County College (N.J.) are both returning from the 2011 event. Montgomery College-Germantown (Md.), Nassau CC (N.Y.) and Tyler all competed in the 2010 event while Northern Essex CC (Mass.) qualified in 2009. Niagara County CC (N.Y.) last appeared in the tournament in 2006 and St. Cloud TCC (Minn.) is the lone team this year making its debut.

Top-ranked Gloucester County College (N.J.) is returning to Tyler for the third consecutive season. The Roadrunners finished as the national runner-up in 2011 after claiming the title 2010. GCC is 46-9 overall and has represented District G/Region 19 in the DIII World Series 18 times in the 21-year history of the tournament.

Play begins on Saturday, May 19^th with first round games. The tournament starts with a great matchup between No. 3 Tyler and No. 2 St. Cloud. Other first round matchups include Joliet vs. Nassau, Niagara vs. Gloucester and Montgomery-Germantown vs. Northern Essex.

The national semifinal contest is slated for Monday, May 21^st followed by the consolation finale the evening of Tuesday, May 22^nd. The first national championship game will be played on Wednesday, May 23^rd at 7 p.m. The second national title game (if necessary) will be played on Thursday, May 24^th.

ABOUT the NJCAA
Since 1938 the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) has been the governing body of two-year college athletics, offering athletic and academic opportunities to college students. Now entering its 75^th anniversary, the NJCAA is the second largest national intercollegiate athletic organization in the United States with over 500 member schools in 43 states. Each year over 60,000 student-athletes compete in one of 28 different sports and the organization sponsors 48 national championship events and nine football bowl games. NJCAA Headquarters has been located in Colorado Springs, Colo., since 1985. For more information visit www.njcaa.org.

From Allan Simpson, Perfect Game USA -

The latest Perfect Game JUCO Top 50 can be found at http://www.perfectgame.org/Articles/View.aspx?article=7013

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Five-Pack Remains Unshakeable At Top of Rankings

On March 26, California’s Orange Coast College settled in as the nation’s No. 1-ranked junior-college team. By April 10, Iowa Western, Walters State (Tenn.), Howard (Texas) and Polk State (Fla.) established themselves as the Nos. 2-5-ranked clubs in the country.

That quintet has continued to play at such a high level since that there has been no movement of any kind at the top of Perfect Game’s national ranking of the nation’s Top 50 junior-college teams.

Even as post-season tournament play is well underway on numerous fronts nationally and 16 of the top 50 teams have been eliminated from championship contention, the Big Five continue to win at a dizzying pace, and are a collective 230-38 through games of Sunday.

By winning one of two southern California super-regionals over the weekend, Orange Coast (36-5) has advanced to California’s Final Four this coming weekend in Bakersfield, Calif., and conceivably could clinch the No. 1 ranking in the country before the showcase event of junior-college baseball, the Junior College World Series, scheduled for May 26-June 2 in its traditional home of Grand Junction, Colo., has even begun. California teams are not members of the National Junior College Athletic Association, and ineligible to play in the national tournament.

Should Orange Coast falter, there are plenty of contenders for the No. 1 national ranking, led by the four teams most closely in pursuit of the Pirates. All have Grand Junction on their mind.

Of the four, No. 5 Polk State (45-10) was the only team, through games of Sunday, to punch its ticket to the 10-team Junior College World Series, though Kansas’ No. 16-ranked Neosho County (47-14) became the second team Monday by winning the NJCAA Region 6 title. Polk County won the rugged Region 8 tournament—effectively, the Florida state junior-college championship—a week ago.

Meanwhile, No. 2 Iowa Western (54-4) needs to win the three-team Northern District championship (Iowa, Illinois) this week to earn a trip to Grand Junction, while No. 3 Walters State (52-9) must do the same in the three-team East Central District (Tennessee, Georgia) and No. 4 Howard (43-10) will need to follow suit in Region 5 (west Texas), already underway. All three teams have a championship lineage as Walters State won the Junior College World Series in 2006, Howard in 2009 and Iowa Western in 2010.

Perhaps the most hotly-contested junior-college tournament (Western District) will be played this weekend in Salt Lake City, involving No. 6 Central Arizona (47-13), the Region 1 champion; No. 7 Salt Lake (43-8), the Region 18 champion; Colorado’s No. 26 Lamar (47-10), the Region 9 champion; and No. 13 Western Nevada (44-15), the runner-up team to Salt Lake in Region 18. The winner moves on to Grand Junction.

That four-team field should hold additional appeal as Western Nevada features the No. 1-ranked junior-college player in the nation in righthander Dylan Baker, who is regarded by scouts as a fringe first-round pick for the June 4-6 draft.

As the No. 1 team, Orange Coast is not lacking in talent itself as it boasts as many as 6-7 players who could be drafted, including righthander Brandon Brennan, outfielder Chris Carlson and outfielder/lefthander Bijan Rademacher, all possible selections in the first 10 rounds. Howard, Perfect Game’s No. 1-ranked team at the outset of the 2012 season, is the only other junior-college team with a realistic chance of producing as many as three players in the top 10 rounds in righthanders Reid Scoggins and Clayton Crum, and lefthander Logan Ehlers, all of whom have reached the high-90s. The fast-charging Scoggins joins Baker as the two junior-college pitchers in the nation this spring that have topped out at 100 mph.

Post-season tournament play continues on a number of fronts this week as teams contend for various championships beyond the NJCAA Division I level and state level, as applicable to California.

The NJCAA Division II and Division III national tournaments have also gotten underway, with the D-II World Series scheduled for Enid, Okla., May 26-June 2 and D-III World Series slated for Tyler, Texas, beginning Saturday. LSU-Eunice (48-4) is the top-ranked D-II team in the Perfect Game Top 50, holding steady at No. 10.

Teams in the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges, consisting of 28 junior colleges in Oregon, Washington and British Columbia, will contend for their own championship, beginning this weekend. Defending champion Bellevue (Wash.) CC is the NWAACC’s top-ranked team at No. 33.

To follow the respective tournaments, please link to the following websites:

www.njcaa.org
www.cccaasports.org
www.nwaacc.org

From the Golf Coaches Association of America

Ludlam Winner of NJCAA Division I Phil Mickelson Award presented by the Phil and Amy Mickelson Foundation

NEWTON, Kans. – Ben Ludlam of Indian Hills has been named recipient of the Phil Mickelson Award presented by the Phil and Amy Mickelson Foundation as the most outstanding freshman in NJCAA Division I men’s golf.

Ludlam has two wins this season, the most recent coming at the NJCAA District III Championship. He also had three additional top 5 finishes and another two top 10 finishes on the season.

Dennis Anderson of Paris JC, Meridian CC’s Dylan Brown, Mariano Rossi of Dodge City CC and Odessa College’s Jamie Warman joined Ludlam on the All-Freshmen Team.

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GCAA Announces NJCAA Division I PING All-America and All-District Teams

NEWTON, Kans. – PING All-America and All-District teams for NJCAA Division I were announced today by the GCAA.

Dennis Anderson of Paris JC, Mathias Boesmans of Western Texas College, Meridian CC’s Dylan Brown, Ben Ludlam of Indian Hills CC and Darton CC’s Joe Sakulpolphaisan comprised the first team.

Second-team selections are Scottsdale CC’s Jake Allen, Richard James of New Mexico JC, Mariano Rossi of Dodge City CC, Meridian CC’s Jake Sterling and Jamie Warman of Odessa College.

William Anderson of Brevard CC, Chris Bell of Odessa College, Western Texas College’s Kyle Lucas, TJ Morgan of Meridian CC and Dodge City CC’s Alex Tiong were named to the honorable mention team.

NJCAA Division I PING All-America Teams
First Team
Dennis Anderson, Paris JC
Mathias Boesmans, Western Texas College
Dylan Brown, Meridian CC
Ben Ludlam, Indian Hills CC
Joe Sakulpolphaisan, Darton CC

Second Team
Jake Allen, Scottsdale CC
Richard James, New Mexico JC
Mariano Rossi, Dodge City CC
Jake Sterling, Meridian CC
Jamie Warman, Odessa College

Honorable Mention
William Anderson, Brevard CC
Chris Bell, Odessa College
Kyle Lucas, Western Texas College
TJ Morgan, Meridian CC
Alex Tiong, Dodge City CC
NJCAA Division I PING All-District Teams

District I
Jake Allen, Scottsdale CC
Dennis Anderson, Paris JC
Jamie Cantwell, Scottsdale CC
Joseph Courtney, Pima CC
Jay Cox, Texarkana
Dustin Dalzell, Scottsdale CC
Garrison Lackey, Texarkana
Robert Raborn, Paris JC
Zachary Sardina, Scottsdale CC
Cody Taylor, Texarkana

District II
Chris Bell, Odessa College
Mathias Boesmans, Western Texas College
Richie Farmer, Midland College
True Graves, Odessa College
Willy Hogan, New Mexico JC
Richard James, New Mexico JC
Kyle Lucas, Western Texas College
Antonio Morales, Odessa College
Luke Richardson, Midland College
Jamie Warman, Odessa College

District III
Ben Cotton, Hutchinson CC
Mario Funcic, Johnson County CC
Ryley Haas, Hutchinson CC
Monty Lack, Indian Hills CC
Ben Ludlam, Indian Hills CC
Mike Muller, Hutchinson CC
Mariano Rossi, Dodge City CC
Alex Tiong, Dodge City CC
Mitch Tucker, Indian Hills CC
William White, Indian Hills CC

District IV
Trent Alexander, Wallace State CC
William Anderson, Brevard CC
Dylan Brown, Meridian CC
Christian Humber, Central Alabama CC
Easton Key, Meridian CC
Paul McClure, Faulkner State CC
TJ Morgan, Meridian CC
Joe Sakulpolphaisan, Darton CC
Jake Stirling, Meridian CC
Shad Tuten, Darton CC

Schumacher comes to Blinn from North Dakota State College of Science

Scott Schumacher has wanted to come to Blinn College since he was a high school senior.

Now, after 25 years as a college basketball coach, including 22 as a head coach in the junior college ranks, he’ll get his wish after he was named the Buccaneers’ head basketball coach, the College announced Thursday, May 10th.

When Schumacher first visited the Blinn-Brenham campus as a senior from Alief Elsik High School, it was to try out for the Buccaneer basketball squad. Thirty-two years later, he’ll be the team’s head coach.

Schumacher inherits a Buccaneer basketball team that won a program-record 27 games last season and advanced to the Region XIV Tournament championship game for the first time in program history. He replaces Tra Arnold, who accepted the coaching job at Odessa College.

Schumacher comes to the Buccaneers with a career record of 426-249, including the last four seasons at North Dakota State College of Science, where he has served as athletic director the last three years.

“I haven’t applied for another job since I’ve been here,” Schumacher said. “I didn’t even have my resume updated, but when the Blinn job came open, that was something that appealed to me at a very high level, and I’m excited about being able to raise my family in Brenham, Texas.”

Schumacher has led three different junior college programs to a conference championship, and 18 of his 22 years were spent in the Texas Eastern Athletic Conference (TEAC), a predecessor the Region XIV Conference. Schumacher previously coached league rivals Paris Junior College and Kilgore College, and is the only coach in TEAC history to lead two different programs to a conference championship.

Schumacher has coached 12 NJCAA All-Americans. More than 60 of his players have signed Division I scholarships, and three have gone on to play in the NBA. From 2005-09, Schumacher served on the USA Basketball Collegiate Selection Committee along with coaching legends such as Kansas head coach Bill Self, Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim and Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo.

In addition to his duties as a coach, Schumacher spent two terms as president of the NJCAA Basketball Coaches Association, a position voted upon by his colleagues.

“I’m all about making sure my players are taken care of and doing the right things on and off the floor,” Schumacher said. “I like my teams to be active in the community. I will put a product on the floor in which our guys will represent Blinn College and Brenham with the utmost respect.”

Schumacher already has plenty of ties to Blinn College and the community. Former Blinn College Athletic Director Don Wilhelm, a former athletic director at Paris Junior College, hired Schumacher to be the head basketball coach at Paris in 1990, and Dr. Harold Nolte, Blinn College president, worked alongside Schumacher at Kilgore College when Nolte was a vice president and Schumacher the head basketball coach there.

Schumacher’s father is a former superintendent at nearby Waller ISD, where Schumacher’s mother also taught. Schumacher’s parents both live in Houston now.

Scott and his wife Lisa are the proud parents of three children: Ross (11), Lonna (6), and Alec (4).

PHOTO – Scott Schumacher, a 25-year coaching veteran with 22 years’ experience coaching junior college basketball, was named the new head men’s basketball coach at Blinn College, the school announced Thursday, May 10th.

By Steve Carpenter, Hutchinson Community College Sports Information Director

NEWTON, Kan. – No. 3 Western Texas, No. 4 Indian Hills and No. 13 Midland College all shot team scores of 4-over par 292 on Tuesday to lead the field after the opening round of the 2012 NJCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championships at Sand Creek Station in Newton, Kan.

The tri-team leaders set a strong pace on Day 1 of the 72-hole championship under near-perfect scoring conditions. No. 16 Tri-County Technical is fourth just four strokes off the pace. No. 2 Odessa is fifth, just five shots off the team lead.

Just 11 strokes separate first and 11th place. 15 strokes separate first and 21st place in the team standings.

Mathias Boesmans shot a 1-under-par 71 to pace Western Texas. Boesmans countered four bogeys with three birdies and an eagle on No. 16. Matthew Whitaker was 3-over through 10, but carded three birdies the rest of the way to post an even-par 72. Other scorers for Western Texas were Julian Hilbertz at 2-ver 74 and Kyle Lucas at 3-over 75.

Defending national champion Indian Hills was led by the championship’s individual leader, Jon Paul Blampied, who shot a round of 5-under 67 on Tuesday. Two weeks ago, Indian Hills shot a staggering 9-under 279 at the District III Championships at Sand Creek Station. On Tuesday, Blampied’s low score helped offset a 1-over 73 by Ben Ludlam, William White’s 3-over 75 and 5-over 77s of Monty Lack and Mitch Tucker.

Tyson Turnover carded a 2-over 70 to power Midland in the first round. Paul Simpson shot even-par 70, while Blake Brorman and Richard Farmer shot 3-over 75s for the Chaparrals.

Ten golfers shot under par in the opening round on Monday and 45 players are within eight shots of Blampied’s lead.

Blampied had a round of five birdies and 13 pars. Blampied closed his round with a flourish with birdies on Nos. 16, 17 and 18.

Tri-County’s Landon Garrett shot a 3-under 69 with four birdies, including consecutive birdies on Nos. 10, 11 and 12, with one bogey.

Brevard’s Keith Greene, Darton’s Joe Sakulpolphasian, Pima’s Austin Stuessel and Midland’s Turnbow are tied at 2-under 70.

The second-round begins at 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday at Sand Creek Station. Follw the tournament at http://www.golfstat.com/.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The McQuillan Softball Complex in Rochester, Minn. , is set to once again serve as the site for the NJCAA Division III Softball Championship. The 2012 edition of the event is set for May 17-19 and marks the seventh consecutive year the Rochester Amateur Sports Commission has hosted the tournament.

The NJCAA Division III Softball Committee released the official bracket and seeding for the tournament on Monday, May 14^th. Fans can access the bracket as well as other important information regarding the tournament at www.rochsports.org/2012njcaasoftball.php.

Fans can also stay updated via the tournament’s own Facebook page.

The2012 tournament field looks very similar to 2011 as six of the eight teams in the bracket competed in last year’s tournament, including defending national champion Gloucester County College (N.J.) and runner-up College of DuPage (Ill.).

Others making the return trip to Rochester includes 2009 national champion Tompkins Cortland Community College (N.Y.), Ridgewater College (Minn.), Itasca Community College (Minn.) and Anne Arundel Community College (Md.).

Gloucester enters the tournament as the No. 1 seed with a 42-9 overall record. They will face No. 8 seed Dutchess Community College (N.Y.) in first-round action on Thursday at 10 a.m.

Tompkins Cortland was awarded the No. 2 seed and will face No. 7 Itasca Thursday at 12 p.m.. Other opening round games include No. 4 DuPage against No. 5 seed Herkimer County Community College (N.Y.) and No. 3 Anne Arundel versus No. 6 Ridgewater.

Action continues Thursday afternoon with quarterfinals and consolation bracket contests scheduled for 2 and 4 p.m.

Friday’s schedule includes three consolation contests beginning at 10 a.m. and the national semifinal at 4 p.m.

The tournament concludes Saturday with the consolation finale at 12 p.m., in addition to fifth and seventh place contests. The first national championship game will take place at 2 p.m. , followed by game two (if necessary) at 4 p.m.

Qualifying Teams/Seeding
Seed #1 - Gloucester County College (NJ) - 42-9
Seed #2 - Tompkins Cortland Community College (NY) - 33-3
Seed #3 - Anne Arundel Community College (Md.) - 39-8
Seed #4 - College of DuPage (Ill.) - 37-17
Seed #5 - Herkimer County Community College (NY) - 36-4
Seed #6 - Ridgewater College (Minn.) - 33-9
Seed #7 - Itasca Community College (Minn.) - 39-10
Seed #8 - Dutchess Community College (NY) - 20-5-1

ABOUT the NJCAA
Since 1938 the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) has been the governing body of two-year college athletics, offering athletic and academic opportunities to college students. Now entering its 75^th anniversary, the NJCAA is the second largest national intercollegiate athletic organization in the United States with over 500 member schools in 43 states. Each year over 60,000 student-athletes compete in one of 28 different sports and the organization sponsors 48 national championship events and nine football bowl games. NJCAA Headquarters has been located in Colorado Springs, Colo., since 1985. For more information visit www.njcaa.org.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The 2012 Division II softball national champion in the NJCAA will be crowned for the first time in Clinton, Miss., as the City of Clinton begins it three-year agreement as host of the event May 17-19 at Traceway Park.

Tournament seeding was finalized on Monday, May 14^th and the official bracket is available for download here.

Live audio and video coverage of the entire 2012 NJCAA Division II Softball Championship will be available on NJCAA TV (www.njcaatv.ihigh.com) thanks to Panhandle Sports Broadcasting (www.psblive.com). NJCAA TV will have announcers at all four fields for the three-day tournament, with live audio of all games, and live game video beginning Friday with Game 27.

Real-time stats and scoring throughout the tournament will be available at www.jucoweekly.org.

Top-ranked and defending national champion LSU Eunice (La.) returns to the tournament and is the No. 1 seed. The Lady Bengals open up play on Thursday at 9:30 a.m. against the 16^th-seed East Central College (Mo.). LSU enters the tournament with a 53-9 overall record.

DII softball powerhouse Phoenix College (Ariz.) was awarded the No. 2 seed and faces 15^th seed CCBC-Catonsville (Md.) at 11:30 a.m. Thursday. The Lady Bears program has won seven national titles since NJCAA softball created the Division II level in 2000.

Six of the 16 qualifying teams in this year’s field played for the title in Illinois in 2011, including defending champ LSU Eunice, Kankakee CC (Ill.), East Central College (Mo.), Mercyhurst NorthEast (Pa.), Delaware Tech CC and Highland CC (Kan.).

Opening round action begins on Thursday at 9:30 a.m. and continues with the second round of the winner’s bracket at 3:30 p.m. The tournament continues Friday, May 18, with an 11-game schedule starting at 10 a.m. The tourney will wrap up on Saturday, May 19, featuring the loser bracket semifinal at 9:30 a.m., followed by the loser bracket finale at 11:30 a.m. The first national championship game will take place at 1:30 p.m., followed by game two (if necessary) at 3:30 p.m.

Qualifying Teams/Seeding
#1 Seed: District M (Region 23A): Louisiana State University-Eunice, La. (53-9)
#2 Seed: District A (Region 1,5): Phoenix College, Ariz. (51-15)
#3 Seed: District N (Region 23B): Jones County Junior College, Miss. (42-9)
#4 Seed: District C (Region 4B): Kankakee Community College, Ill. (50-9)
#5 Seed: District D (Region 6A): Cowley College, Kan. (46-6)
#6 Seed: District O (Region 24A): Parkland College, Ill. (42-18)
#7 Seed: District E (Region 6B): Highland Community College, Kan. (48-11)
#8 Seed: District B (Region 4A): Black Hawk College, Ill. (32-15)
#9 Seed: District G (Region 12A): Muskegon Community College, Mich. (42-10)
#10 Seed: District P (Region 8, 10, 24B): Illinois Central College (34-23)
#11 Seed: District F (Region 9,11): Des Moines Area CC, Iowa (40-19)
#12 Seed: District I (Region 3, 15, 21): Mercyhurt North East, Pa. (40-12)
#13 Seed: District H (Region 12B): Mott Community College, Mich. (26-13)
#14 Seed: District K (Region 19): Delaware Technical & Community College, Del. (35-3)
#15 Seed: District L (Region 20): CCBC-Catonsville, Md. (44-11)
#16 Seed: District J (Region 2, 16): East Central College, Mo. (28-30)

ABOUT the NJCAA
Since 1938 the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) has been the governing body of two-year college athletics, offering athletic and academic opportunities to college students. Now entering its 75^th anniversary, the NJCAA is the second largest national intercollegiate athletic organization in the United States with over 500 member schools in 43 states. Each year over 60,000 student-athletes compete in one of 28 different sports and the organization sponsors 48 national championship events and nine football bowl games. NJCAA Headquarters has been located in Colorado Springs, Colo., since 1985. For more information visit www.njcaa.org.

Trinity Valley Community College has turned to The Sunflower State to find its third head men’s basketball coach in a half-century.

Kris Baumann, who spent the last six seasons as head men’s basketball coach at Garden City Community College in Garden City, Kansas, was Monday named to the position at TVCC.

Baumann replaces Pat Smith, who recently resigned after six seasons to return to Moberly Area Community College in Moberly, Missouri as head men’s basketball coach. Smith had replaced NJCAA Hall of Fame coach Leon Spencer at the end of his 42-year tenure in 2006.

“Trinity Valley had many excellent candidates apply for the position,” TVCC President Dr. Glendon Forgey said. “Coach Baumann has been successful in a very tough Kansas conference. I have no doubt he has the ability, passion and winning attitude to be just as successful here.

“He understands the tradition and history at the Valley and is more than prepared to get us to the next level.”

In his six seasons at Garden City, Baumann posted a 120-75 record. His 2008-09 squad went 25-13, captured the Region VI championship and advanced to the national tournament for the first time in 53 years, finishing sixth. The 25 wins tied the most for a single season in the college’s history.

He was named Region VI Coach of the Year in 2008-09 and was selected to coach in the NJCAA All-Star Game.

Baumann, who served three years as head coach at Lamar Community College, prior to arriving at Garden City, has compiled a 170-120 career record as a head coach. He was 25-8 in his final season at Lamar.

He is 74-46 as an assistant coach in stints at Chipola Junior College, Tallahassee Community College and Garden City. He was an assistant coach at Garden City for one season before becoming head coach for the 2006-07 season.
Baumann has made his trademark on the recruiting trail. At Garden City, he has coached two NJCAA All-Americans and has had two players named Jayhawk West Conference Players of the Year. He has also had 10 players receive scholarships to NCAA Division 1 colleges.

At Lamar, he coached one All-American and had three players sign with NCAA Division I colleges.

“Not only does Kris produce outstanding players on the court, but his players also perform well academically,” Forgey said. “Helping players graduate is the most important thing a coach can do for his players.
“Kris and his players will be involved in the community and they will participate in a variety of service projects.”

Baumann is a native of New Plymouth, Idaho, where he helped lead his high school team to a state championship in 1993 and was selected as Idaho Gatorade Player of the Year in 1994. He was also selected to the prestigious Nike All-American Camp and the Five-Star Orange and White All-Star Game.

He attended and played at the University of Idaho, where he became one of the top three-point shooters in school history. Baumann was voted team captain in both his junior and senior seasons and received the prestigious Ronald White Award.

Baumann received his bachelor’s degree in general studies from the University of Idaho and Masters of Business Administration and sports management from Columbia Southern University.

“His teams play an exciting style of basketball and I encourage the community to come out and support the team next season,” Forgey said.

Baumann is scheduled to be on campus and in his Cardinal Gym office Wednesday morning. A formal announcement ceremony of his hiring will be held Wednesday afternoon.

Click here for official bracket

(ST. GEORGE, Utah – May 14, 2012) The second-ranked team in the nation, Chattanooga State Community College (Tenn.), will serve as the No. 1 seed in the upcoming 2012 NJCAA Division I Softball Championship Tournament, hosted by the City of St. George, this Thursday-through-Saturday, May 17-19, 2012, at The Canyons Sports Complex.

The second ranked Lady Tigers (56-4) will be back in St. George for the first time since 2010. The No. 2 seed and top-ranked Salt Lake (Utah) Community College (55-7) will make the four hour drive south to St. George to make its fourth straight appearance in NJCAA tournament, along with third-seed and No. 6 ranked Blinn (Texas) College (49-8). In all, nine teams in the 16-team field are currently ranked in the latest NJCAA Top-20 poll (as of April 25, 2012), including No. 9 Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College (38-13); No. 10 Pima (Ariz.) Community College (47-12); No. 12 State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota (48-11); No. 13 Howard (Texas) Community College (47-15); No.17 Wallace State (Ala.) Community College-Hanceville (54-10) and No. 18 Lake Land (Ill.) College (51-5).

Chattanooga, which opens play against #16-seed Aiken (S.C.) Technical College (32-29) Thursday morning at 10 a.m., will share the top half of the bracket with two-time runner-up and 2008 National Champion Wallace State College. The Lady Lions check in as the No. 9 seed and will draw No. 8 seed Seminole State College of Florida (44-19-1) in the opening round. Two other games will complete the morning session, with No. 5 seed State College of Florida squaring off with No. 12 seed Temple (Texas) College (44-15), and No. 4 seed Pima CC squaring off against No. 13 seed Butler (Kan.) CC (40-15).

Salt Lake CC anchors the bottom half of the bracket and will play No. 15 seed Western Nebraska CC (45-24) beginning at 1 p.m. In addition, Blinn College will play No. 14 seed Gordon (Ga.) College (37-17); No. 6 seed Northeastern Oklahoma A&M takes on No. 11 seed Crowder (Mo.) College (44-16); and No. 7 seed Howard College will face No. 10 seed Lake Land College.

The on-field action continues Thursday evening with four consolation bracket elimination games at 4:30 p.m., followed by four championship-bracket quarterfinal games at 7 p.m. The tournament continues Friday, May 18, with an 11-game schedule starting at 10 a.m. The tourney will wrap up on Saturday, May 19, featuring the loser bracket semifinal at 10 a.m., followed by the loser bracket finale at 12 noon. The first national championship game will take place at 2 p.m., followed by game two (if necessary) at 4 p.m.

Seven of the 16 qualifying teams played for the title in St. George in 2011, including Western Nebraska CC and Lake Land College, which joined Salt Lake CC, Blinn College, Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College, Butler CC, and Howard CC in last year’s tournament. In addition, Wallace State CC is making its third national tourney appearance in Utah’s Dixie this year, having first appeared in 2009 and 2010 before not qualifying in 2011.

Live audio and video coverage of the entire 2012 NJCAA Division I Women’s Softball Championship will be available on NJCAA TV (www.njcaatv.ihigh.com). NJCAA TV will have announcers at all four fields for the three-day tournament, with live audio of all games, and live game video beginning Friday evening with Game 27.

In addition, live scoring of each game can be found on the official tournament website at www.stgeorgenjcaaworldseries.com.

This year is the first year of a second three-year agreement between the City of St. George and the NJCAA to host the annual championship tournament. In March of 2011, the NJCAA granted the city three more years, making it the host site through 2014. The NJCAA tournament is the first sports national championship at any collegiate level to be hosted by the City of St. George at The Canyons Softball Complex, which is an eight-time “Complex of the Year” award winner.

The festivities get underway on Wednesday, May 16, with a special welcome banquet to honor all the teams and participants beginning at 6:30 p.m., at the Dixie Center. The public is invited to attend the welcome banquet and tickets for the banquet are available at the door for $35 for adults and $13.50 for children ages 3-14 with limited seating available.

Crystl Bustos, two-time Olympic gold medalist as member of the United States national softball team, will serve as the keynote speaker at the banquet. Bustos helped lead Team USA to gold medals in 2000 and 2004, and the silver medal in 2008. She was also a member of Palm Beach Community College softball team, now Palm Beach State College, when they won two NJCAA titles.

For more information about the NJCAA Division I Fast Pitch Softball Tournament, including bracket pairings and game times, or to purchase tickets please visit www.stgeorgenjcaaworldseries.com. Tickets can also be purchased at the St. George City Recreation Center at 285 S. 400 E., or by telephone by calling 435-627-4560.

SCOOBA – In helping lead the East Mississippi Community College softball team to a fourth straight MACJC State Tournament appearance, five members of the Lady Lions’ 2012 squad have earned postseason recognition for their on-field accomplishments. NJCAA All-Region 23 and MACJC All-State/North Division softball selections were announced this week,...

SCOOBA – A sign of any successful collegiate athletics program is sending players onto the next level. If that’s the case, the East Mississippi Community College men’s basketball program stands proudly as a resounding success. All eight of head coach Mark White’s sophomore players from last year’s NJCAA National...

MAYHEW – East Mississippi Community College’s history-making 2011 football season culminated in grand style with Saturday night’s national championship ring presentation banquet held in the Lyceum auditorium at EMCC’s Golden Triangle campus. Players and coaches from last year’s school-first national championship team were...

SCOOBA – East Mississippi Community College rodeo standouts Will Lummus and Kellie Hailey have qualified to compete in next month’s College National Finals Rodeo, to be held June 10-16 in Casper, Wyo. Lummus, from West Point’s Oak Hill Academy, will compete in the CNFR’s steer wrestling event for the second...

SCOOBA – East Mississippi Community College will conduct baseball and softball tryouts on Sunday, May 20 on the Scooba campus. Both tryout sessions are slated to begin at 2 p.m., with baseball tryouts set to take place at EMCC’s Gerald Poole Field and softball tryouts being held on the...

MOORHEAD – The visiting Lions of East Mississippi Community College couldn’t maintain the momentum gained from their 5-2 comeback win in game one by dropping a 4-0 nightcap decision to Mississippi Delta Community College in Saturday afternoon MACJC North Division doubleheader baseball action. With...

FULTON – East Mississippi Community College’s softball season came to an end Thursday afternoon with a 9-1 run-rule setback to third-ranked Jones County Junior College in an opening-round game of the MACJC State Softball Tournament being held at the Itawamba Community College Softball Complex.The Lady Bobcats chased EMCC starting pitcher...

SCOOBA – Scoring 26 runs on 25 hits on the day, including five home runs, the Lions of East Mississippi Community College closed out their regular-season home baseball slate by sweeping visiting Coahoma Community College, 15-1 and 11-5, in MACJC North Division action late Wednesday afternoon at EMCC’s Gerald Poole...

SCOOBA – Columbus native and former East Mississippi Community College football standout Johnny Fisher was one of 15 individuals across the state inducted into the Mississippi Community College Sports Hall of Fame during Tuesday night’s induction banquet held at the Muse Center on Hinds Community College’s Rankin campus. Born and...

SALTILLO – Making their third regional golf appearance in the last four years, the East Mississippi Community College Lions placed fourth at this week’s NJCAA Region 23 Golf Championship held at Big Oaks Golf Club. The two-day tournament hosted by Northeast Mississippi Community College concluded Monday. The Bulldogs of...

ICC_Athletics: http://t.co/6kOcb2tF: David Wheeler previews the Indians trip to the NJCAA Region 23 Baseball Tournament http://t.co/UcbAK25l

ICC_Athletics: VIDEO: Coach Collier talks about the upcoming Region 23 Tourney from Southeastern Louisiana http://t.co/8toxcnKh

ICC_Athletics: Hear from Coach Rick Collier tonight at 10 on @wtvanews as he talks about getting ready for Region 23 from Southeastern Louisiana

ICC_Athletics: The Indians have arrived in Eunice after an 11-hour road trip

ICC_Athletics: Meanwhile back at the swamp, the Indians roll into the Crawfish Capitol of the World Preaux Bridge with a storm brewing on the horizon

ICC_Athletics: @wakollmeyer helping Coach Collier with practice at SELA http://t.co/o2KYNMNW

ICC_Athletics: Former Indian Joseph Koon welcomes the Indians before a quick practice at SELA http://t.co/IYeTxORX

ICC_Athletics: RT @TheLeeAdams: Four of my photos made it to http://t.co/OAm8s3sx and the first one is of the great @carrington_rye http://t.co/w04JZ2f9

ICC_Athletics: Former Indian #ICCFootball RT @DJournalnow: Falcons sign OT Lamar Holmes from USM to 4 year deal http://t.co/mbc2DHLS

ICC_Athletics: All NJCAA Region 23 games can be seen online at starting Thursday with the Indians 3:00 pm game http://t.co/hTIes6xS