2023 NJCAA MIDWEST DISTRICT TOURNAMENT CENTRAL | UPDATED BRACKET
Centerville, IA – Indian Hills Baseball suffered a 10-6 loss to South Suburban College (IL) on the opening day of the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) DI Baseball Midwest District Tournament at Pat Daugherty Field Wednesday.
The Warriors (39-20) will now look to battle out of the loser's bracket in the three-day, four-team double-elimination tournament on Thursday. Indian Hills will square off with No. 18 John A. Logan College (IL) at 12:00 PM Thursday after the Volunteers lost their opening round matchup 5-2 to No. 3 Wabash Valley College (IL) at Pat Daugherty Field Wednesday afternoon.
The Warriors, who advanced to the NJCAA Midwest District Tournament after sweeping through the NJCAA Region 11 Tournament last week, matched up with the Bulldogs, winners of the NJCAA Region 4 Tournament, on Wednesday in the second game of the day. Playing as the visiting team, the Warriors struck first in the top of the first inning, but a five-run fifth inning from South Suburban proved to be the difference maker.
Sophomore Sergio Chavez (Laredo, TX/John B. Alexander) went 2-4 at the plate with a solo home run and a pair of RBI while freshman Dylan Sayles (Rockton, IL/Hononegah) added a 3-5 performance with a double and a triple. Freshman Tomoki Jitsukawa (Tokyo, Japan/Tokai Sapporo) limited the damage out of the bullpen for the Warriors, allowing just two hits in 3.2 innings of relief work.
Thursday's matchup with John A. Logan will serve as an elimination game with the winner advancing to Thursday night's matchup against the loser of Wabash Valley and South Suburban. The championship matchup is set for 12:00 PM Friday with an if necessary game immediately to follow.
Chavez put the Warriors on top in the first inning with an RBI single through the left side to score Daniel Figueroa (Toa Alta, Puerto Rico/Leadership Christian Academy). This week's Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) Athlete of the Week Adrian Vargas (Caracas, Venezuela/Instituto Central de Educacion Ice) doubled the lead with a sacrifice fly, but South Suburban responded with a run in the bottom half of the frame to pull within one.
The Bulldogs grabbed their first lead of the contest with two runs in the bottom of the third, but the Warriors went back on top 4-3 after a two-run single from Raul Torres (Caguas, Puerto Rico/Leadership Christian Academy). The lead disappeared in the fourth on a two-run home run from the Bulldogs before South Suburban tacked on its biggest frame of the game with five runs in the fifth to pull away.
Chavez delivered his second home run of the year in the seventh, and an RBI triple from Sayles in the ninth proved to be the final tallies of the game for the Warriors.
Fans can catch all the action of the NJCAA Midwest District Tournament live on GoHillsTV, the GoHillsTV Facebook Page, and the GoHillsTV Mobile App.
