The Heartland Community College baseball team is returning to the World Series for a fourth straight season, on a quest for the program’s second national championship during that span.
“We’re as confident as we could possibly be going into this tournament, so we’re excited that we’ve got a shot and we’ll see how it all plays out,” said fifth-year Hawks head coach Chris Razo.
“In the junior college baseball world, with it only being two years for all these programs, things change pretty quickly and there’s a lot of unknown with teams that you play every year.”
Heartland (46-14) punched its ticket to the National Junior College Athletic Association [NJCAA] Division II World Series by winning the Central District Championship Tournament over the weekend in Union, Mo.
Pairings for the 12-team, double-elimination World Series will be announced Tuesday, with games beginning Saturday. Razo said there’s a chance the Hawks could be seeded among the top four teams, which would give them a first-round bye.
“After being there a couple times and winning it a couple years ago, we’ve figured out pretty quickly you’ve got to have some luck go your way, whether that means a matchup or just the ball bouncing your direction,” said Razo. “What truly matters is getting there, and then you just kind of let the cards fall how they may, and you just play the game.”
Razo played for the Hawks when they made their debut World Series appearance in 2011, the first of three straight under original head coach Nate Metzger.
“When I took over here, it was an interim title, and then COVID kind of happened. Then it was a part of a process that we kind of knew what was going to get us back to what we were when I was here as a player,” said Razo. “We are relatively still new in the baseball world, with only this being our 16th season.
“Obviously going [to] four in a row is something that’s never been done here before, and [it’s] obviously the route and the direction we’ve wanted this place to be, and it’s hopefully becoming just what’s accepted and the only thing acceptable.”
The Hawks ended a nearly decade-long World Series drought in 2022, but were eliminated after just three games. A year later, they capped off a remarkable 57-5 season with a win over Southeastern Iowa for the World Series title. Last year, a difficult draw resulted in a brief World Series stay after back-to-back losses.
“Our guys all know, after being there last year, how quickly it can kind of just end for you,” said Razo. “We had probably three of the better teams there all on one side of the bracket, and then we ran into probably the hottest team in the country.
“So again, just matchups become important, and our guys know that it’s just about going out there and just kind of taking care of business and playing clean baseball. That’s the key.”
After opening this year’s double-elimination District tourney with an 8-7 win over North Central Missouri in 10 innings Thursday, the Hawks moved into the finals with an 8-4 triumph over Vincennes the next day.
That set up a Saturday rematch with North Central Missouri, needing one win in two chances to claim the World Series berth. After absorbing a 15-14 loss in the 11-inning first game, Heartland rolled to a 17-4 victory and earned the trip to Ohio.
“That’s kind of the quintessential two games that we can kind of have, where if our pitchers are giving up some runs, we know offensively we’re going to still be in the game,” said Razo. “It’s all about damage control.”
The Hawks have averaged 9.3 runs per game this season, while holding opposing offenses to just 4.8. Heartland boasts a .352 team batting average and a .542 slugging percentage. The lineup is driven by Jimmy Anderson (.435 average, 9 home runs, 60 RBIs), Brady Davidson (.408, 8, 62) and Kaden Griffitts (.361, 16, 59).
“We’ve always been an offensive-driven kind of team. We always say that we have our approach and we stick to it: We try to get to the other team's bullpen,” said Razo. “You’ve just got to trust the process, even when it doesn’t go great right away, that eventually you’re going to get to where you need to.”
