Delta College Baseball team in the hunt for 1st Place

Delta College is making a strong run for 1st place in the Michigan Junior College Athletic Conference in 2014.  The Pioneers are now in their 3rd season playing Varsity Baseball under Head Coach Dan Smith.  They now seem to be running on all cylinders after sweeping a doubleheader today against Indiana rival Ancilla College 5-0 and 8-4.   This brings their record to 16-6 in Conference play and 27-11 overall this year. 

The Pioneers play their home games at Saginaw Township Wickes Park out in the middle of nowhere.   The field that they play on leaves a lot to be desired.  The author actually umpired baseball their when the park opened up in the mid 1980's and hasn't improved at all.   In fact their are many High School fields in the Great Lakes Bay region that have better facilities.  

The Michigan Community College Athletic Association baseball standings are all bunched up at the top with just a little over a week to play.   Muskegon C.C. currently have a one game lead over Delta with a 17-5 record.   Delta College will now play at home again on Tuesday against Jackson C.C. who are just one game behind Delta College in the standings. 

A.J. McInnis pitched a strong game for Delta over 5 innings without any earned runs and 1 walk and 1 strikeout.   Leading the way for Delta in Game #1 was Thomas Smith going 3 for 3.  Delta pounded out 9 hits in the first game.   They cruised to an 8-4 win in game two under sunny skies at Wickes Park.  

In just its 3rd full season of Varsity Baseball Delta College is a team to be reckoned with in the MCCAA.   The top 8 teams will compete in a conference tournament to send a team on to the Junior College regional.   Delta College came within one game last season to advancing to the Junior College World Series.   However Coach Smith has the regular season title on his mind before the playoffs.   Delta College now draws a majority of its roster from High School players in the Great Lakes Bay region.