Cavaliers qualify for JUCO World Series

5/15/2008
Story by Tyler Cundith

Pulled from www.jccc.edu

OVERLAND PARK, KS -- Johnson County Community College sophomore left-hander Travis Blankenship tied a school record for wins in a season with 11, but his recent victory Wednesday night was the sweetest of his career. The Lawrence native who signed with Kansas earlier this year went the distance to lead the Cavaliers to a 6-2 win over cross town rival Kansas City Kansas in the final game of the Region VI Tournament at Lawrence Dumont Stadium in Wichita, Kan., giving his team its first berth to the NJCAA JUCO World Series.

Blankenship pitched nine innings, allowing just two runs on four hits, and struck out nine to earn the complete game victory. Blankenship set the tone early, striking out the first two batters of the game, and four of the first five he faced. He didn’t allow a hit until the sixth inning.

While Blankenship was throwing a gem, Kansas City Kansas’ defense opened the door for JCCC. The Blue Devils committed eight errors in the game, two in the first inning which led to two runs, two in the second and two in the third, giving JCCC a 4-0 lead.

Kansas City Kansas cut into the Cavaliers lead with a two run sixth inning, but JCCC matched that in the bottom half of the inning, and never looked back.

Offensively JCCC was led by sophomore Mitchell Mathis (2-for-3, 1 RBI), freshman Parker Amos (2-for-4, 1 RBI) and sophomore Doug Otto, the conference MVP (1-for-4, 1 RBI).
The victory improved JCCC to 41-16 overall, and gave head coach Kent Shelley his 599th victory of his career. He will go for his 600th in the JUCO World Series.

View the box score.