College of Central Florida wins JUCO National Baseball Championship
The College of Central Florida's baseball staff had a feeling the 2023 season could be special. They assembled one of the most talented teams in the country.
The next step was getting them to believe that a national championship was obtainable. It didn't take long before the players saw what their coaches saw.
Coach Marty Smith talked about it all season. The players knew how good their teammates were. From there, chemistry took them to the highest heights in school history - a JUCO World Series championship.Here is how they did it:
National championship preview College of Central Florida wins back-to-back state titles, earns trip to NJCAA World Series
Includes 79-21 record over two seasons College of Central Florida Baseball Coach Marty Smith wins 900th game
Last year's JUCO World Series results Central Florida baseball season comes to an end with loss in NJCAA World Series
Making the trip to nationals
Central Florida opened the season on an 12-game win streak. After a loss to St. Petersburg College, talks of righting the ship turned to national championship conversations.
The momentum beget a 19-game win streak, a district title, regional title and second state championship in two years. The Patriots earned six spots on the all-state team. Infielder Edwin Toribio, first baseman Juan Correa and outfielder John Marant earned first-team nods.
After sweeping their state championship series, the JUCO World Series was calling. They entered as the No. 1 seed in Grand Junction, Colorado.
The home of the JUCO World Series is a memorable venue. It's three hours west of Denver and treats each team to a backdrop of Colorado's mountain scape.
"It was beautiful from the drive up to the mountains," Tennessee Volunteers commit Bradke Lohry said. "That was beautiful. Then you get to the Suplizio Field and play your first game there with all the fans. It's incredible."
Smith talked about how special it is to make it this far. Most players go their entire career without playing on Suplizio Field. The Patriots were set on making their appearance count.
The run to the championship
Before the Patriots took the field for their first-round game, they watched Weatherford College survive Delgado Community College by a walk-off home run. In the Tuesday nightcap, the Patriots blew out Andrew College, 12-0, to advance to round two.
Central Florida's confidence was high after steamrolling its first opponent and watching a future opponent struggle. But when the Patriots stepped off the field that night, they suffered their first loss since April.
But the Patriots didn't panic after dropping its second round game, 14-5, to Weatherford. The group reveled in it.
"Once that first loss, none of us wanted to go home," Correa said. "We wanted to get Marty his first championship. He's a special coach and a special person."
It was the shock they needed. Nothing brings things into focus, like having your back against the wall.
"It made us realize we had to dig deep and grind it out," Mississippi State commit Cam Schuelke said. "And that's what we did."
The entire team took the challenge on without batting an eye.
"In baseball, you have to get over it," Smith said. "You have to have good stuff and a short memory as a pitcher, and you've got to swing it and get over your at-bats as a hitter."
If they wanted to win, they had to go take it. For the next four games, they took wins in historical fashion.
With a tighter focus, the Patriots moved on to their next opponent, Delgado Community College.
Toribio's return to the lineup on Tuesday night infused new energy into the Patriots. Having their regular-season home run and RBI leader ensured them another elite hitter, even if his broken hand didn't allow him to operate at full strength.
The injury wouldn't stop him from making plays when they count. He had a hit and scored a run in his first action in a month.
Correa, who passed Toribio for the Patriots' single-season home run record, hit his 21st of the season during their 12-9 win over Delgado.
Their next win was a marathon. A JUCO World Series record five-hour, nineteen-minute game against Wabash Valley College that featured a combined 31 runs.
Stepping into the 12th inning, the teams were tied at 12. The Patriots had a 7-run barrage to give the defense a cushion in the bottom of the inning. Four at-bats and a game-sealing double play later, the Patriots advanced to the semifinals.
"It's the way we did it, too," Schuelke said. "Coming from behind ... It was just perfect."
Lohry had some vested interest in the win. He played for Wabash before transferring to Central Florida last summer. The win gave him bragging rights over his old teammates and backed up his poor game trash talk.
"When we won that game, we really knew we were taking home the trophy," Lohry said. "It was the quickest five and a half hours of my life."
Isaac Sewell and Keller Eberly were unsung heroes during the record-setting game. Sewell pitched 4.2 innings, leaving with a game-high six strikeouts to close the game. Eberly tied Brian Holiday with five strikeouts apiece.
"Once you get past that, you take a deep breath and say if we can get past that, we can get past anything, and that's the mentality we had the rest of the way," Smith said.
That could be a tall task when you're playing an opponent that bested you days ago, but the Patriots can be described as resilient. They've fought through injuries and cold spells all season, but their will and depth has pushed them past it all.
Weatherford's offense put up another formidable performance but it was Central Florida that stamped its title game with a 14-13 win. The offensive barrage included Correa's 22nd home run, a Patriots' single-season record.
The championship game saw another previous opponent, Wabash Valley.
The first 15 minutes of the game was Smith's favorite time of the national title run. The Patriots' nine-run opening inning swung the game in their favor. It set Central Florida on a 13-6 victory to become JUCO World Series national champions in front of a crowd of 11,900.
"It was huge," outfielder Kainan Jorge said. "It was super exciting to get that inning going with nine runs. That was huge for the offense and pitching staff."
Homecoming for the JUCO World Series champions
The game may have finished a few minutes before 2 a.m., and the team flight home left six hours later. With a night of celebrating in store, who knows if the team got any rest before its departure from Denver's airport.
In less than 12 hours, Coach Smith received over 1,100 messages congratulating the team on its national championship. Texts, phone calls, and voicemails from D1 baseball coaches, former players, and colleagues you make over 30 years as a head baseball coach.
Two of the most influential figures in Smith's baseball career were among the messages: his college coach, Paul Manieri, and his high school coach, Howard May.
May played in the JUCO World Series in 1965. He recorded a JUCO World Series record four triples during Gulf Coast State College's national title run.
"He's 75 years old and just as interested as anyone was for us to take a trip up," Smith said.
Central Florida is Smith's alma mater. This national title banner was well over 30 years in the making when you add in his playing career.
It's marked off one of Smith's last boxes in a career that has seen him win more than 900 games. Fittingly, he was named the Bus Burgman coach of the tournament.
"The resiliency and the heart showed we were the best team out there," Smith said.
Smith is already looking toward how he can help his 2024 team reach the same results. He's hungry for another national title, and his ball club will follow him as they prepare to defend their national title.
"I'm glad the college is getting the notoriety out of it," Smith said. "On Twitter, we're hearing from everybody from everywhere. Doing national shows here and radio shows that get the name out there. It's a good thing; it can't hurt to help the College of Central Florida brand."
The Patriots are all about the team. When asked about their individual accolades, players always brought it back to the end goal of team success.
"Being called a national champion feels pretty good," Schuelke said. "We're the best team in school history."
Marant, Schuelke, Correa and Brian Holiday made the JUCO World Series all-tournament team; Marant and Correa hit a pair of homers during the run but it was Correa who earned MVP honors. Holiday was named the tournament’s most outstanding pitcher.
"Everything that was accomplished this year with the winning aspect, pitching aspect, it's all been through the team," Oklahoma State University commit Holiday said.
This article originally appeared on Ocala Star-Banner: College of Central Florida Patriots win JUCO World Series
