BATTLE CREEK - Kellogg Community College lived up to its national ranking and rolled through the first stage of the postseason with a sweep of Kalamazoo Valley Community College at Bailey Park in Battle Creek on Thursday, May 7.
KCC, ranked No. 3 in the country, beat Kalamazoo Valley 11-0 in the first game of the Region XII first-round tournament doubleheader and won the second game 10-2. Winning the best-of-3 first round series, KCC advances to the Great Lakes District Tournament championship round at Jackson College on May 14.
The two victories takes KCC's record to 45-6 overall as the Bruins have steadily climbed in recent weeks in the rankings to be counted as one of the elite junior college baseball teams in the country, sitting at No. 3 in the latest National Junior College Athletic Association Division II poll.
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"We've been ranked high in previous years, top five. But being No. 3 is getting into different territory. That's a testament to these guys showing up every day. They go out and win each pitch and now they've gone out and won 41 of the last 42 games and that's pretty impressive," KCC coach Eric Laskovy said.
KCC received dominant pitching performances in both games. Sophomores Caleb Kidd and Joshua Midbo earned the wins.
"The scores probably don't reflect how well Kalamazoo Valley has been playing. But we brought our 'A' game," Laskovy said. "We are a team that's been playing pretty good. We got good pitching today from a couple of sophomores and that set the tone. Our offense did an outstanding job and we got some good defense."
Contact Bill Broderick at bbroderi@battlecreekenquirer.com. Follow him on X/Twitter @billbroderick.
This article originally appeared on Battle Creek Enquirer:Kellogg CC beats Kalamazoo Valley CC in baseball Region XII tournament