The Odessa College baseball team will look to keep up its momentum in the Western Junior College Athletic Conference as the Wranglers face the Western Texas College Westerners in a four-game series this weekend.
The series will begin with a doubleheader starting at noon Friday at Wrangler Ballpark.
Both teams will then head to Snyder to finish up series, with a doubleheader at noon Saturday.
The Wranglers, despite losing to Weatherford College 7-6 in a nonconference game on Monday in Abilene, are currently on an eight-game winning streak in Western Junior College Athletic Conference play.
Odessa College (18-9 overall, 10-2 in WJCAC) hasn’t lost since a 9-3 defeat to Midland College back on March 8 at Christensen Stadium.
Head coach David Wood has noticed the improvement the Wranglers have made in just the past month.
“It’s our fight and it’s the mindset that we’re not going to quit or slow down,” Wood said. “The guys are starting to rally around each other. That’s one of the most important things that this group is doing. We’re not the most talented group at times, but we are going to have the most fight. They’re doing it for each other and that’s what this team is good at. They’re playing for the guy next to them, not for themselves.”
Before conference play started, the Wranglers lost four of their previous eight contests which included a 10-2 loss to New Mexico Junior College in a game that didn’t count toward the WJCAC standings as well as a 13-7 defeat to Western Oklahoma State College.
The Wranglers have swept their last two WJCAC opponents, winning four straight in both series against New Mexico Military Institute and Clarendon College.
“Sweeps in this conference are really hard to come by,” Wood said. “Being in my first year at doubleheader- doubleheader grind, it doesn’t matter who’s your opponent. You have to be ready to play. We had a little bit of everything. We had a run rule, we had a walkoff and it’s just a matter of keeping the guys focused and knowing that whatever’s in front of us, we can overcome it. I’m really proud of our guys against Clarendon College.”
While the Wranglers were dealt a one-run loss to national powerhouse Weatherford College earlier this week, Wood said it still sent a message to his team.
“It gives them the opportunity to know that we can do it,” Wood said. “But we go into every game knowing that we should win it … I told our guys that in order to be a champion, they’re going to have to beat a champion. They executed like a champion in that game. We talked about that after the game.”
Meanwhile, Western Texas College enters this week’s series desperate for wins as the Westerners sit at 7-24, 2-10.
Western Texas College is coming off an 11-8 win against Howard College last week that ended a four-game losing streak.
Western Texas College’s only other conference win so far was a 9-8 victory against Amarillo College on March 16.
“They’re just as tough as everyone else in our conference,” Wood said. “If you look at their record, their numbers may not look great but anyone can sneak up on anyone at any given time … Any team can win on any given day. We take everyone serious and expect a tough challenge, no matter what.”
Wood also talked about the Wranglers having to transition from playing on turf Friday to playing on natural grass Saturday in Snyder.
“When you’re on turf, you can get comfortable because you know the ball will bounce a certain way,” Wood said. “We still teach our guys to be aggressive on defense so when we go to Western Texas College on Saturday, it’s the same thing. We need to be aggressive. If you let the ball take an extra hop on a natural surface, you have a likelihood of making an error so we’re going to be aggressive.”
NJCAA Region 5
WJCAC
Team Overall Conference
New Mexico Junior College 21-10, 11-1
Midland College 26-4, 10-2
Odessa College 18-9, 10-2
Howard College 16-12, 10-2
Amarillo College 15-17, 8-4
El Paso Community College 25-7, 7-5
Frank Phillips College 8-22, 2-10
Western Texas College 7-24, 2-10
New Mexico Military Institute 12-18, 0-12
Clarendon College 6-22, 0-12
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