Spartan baseball season closes

CENTERVILLE – The Southwestern Community College baseball team closed its season with two consecutive losses in the NJCAA Region XI tournament Friday.

The Spartans faced the teams with the two best records in the four-team tournament.

In the opening round, SWCC drew NJCAA Div. I No. 2-ranked Iowa Western, which topped the Spartans 9-1.

The Reviers cranked out 12 hits, plating nine runners over the course of the contest.

Vincent Ramos drove in the only run for Southwestern in the top of the seventh inning.

Iowa Western went on to win the Region XI tournament completing the tournament and regular season with a 50-5 record and an unblemished 24-0 record in the ICCAC.

The Reviers will continue playing through the Northern District playoff for a spot in the JUCO World Series.

In the consolation bracket, SWCC dropped its contest against Indian Hills 15-2.

Warriors pitcher Yadiel Valdez threw six innings, allowing just two runs on two hits over the course of the contest while striking out five.

Complete stats for that contest for the Spartans were unavailable at the time of print.

All-region awardees

Southwestern closes the year with a record of 10-37 (3-22) and on an 11-game losing streak against some of the best teams in the nation. Ten of those 11 consecutive losses came to opponents with a combined 86-27 record.

SWCC had four players named to the ICCAC Div. I all-region team at years end.

Pedro Nazario took the highest honors as a second team selection. Over the campaign, Nazario batted .366 from the plate, knocking in 21 runs along with six homers. The sophomore ended the year with a .474 on-base percentage, which was 74 points higher than the next best Spartan.

Nathan Torres, Oscar Rivera and Raul Cosme all received honorable mention recognition from the conference for their efforts over the course of the season.

Torres completed the year with a .263 battling average, driving in 20 runs with six doubles. Torres ended the year with the highest fielding percentage (.956) of any Spartan infielder.

Rivera started off his sophomore campaign as the ace of the staff and proved his worth, ending the year with a 4.55 earned run average. Rivera struck out a team-high 68 batters and allowed just seven extra base hits in 59 1/3 innings pitched.

As the only Spartan freshman to win postseason honors, Cosme hit. 286 over 35 games played this season. The Spartan newcomer had six doubles, a home run, and knocked in 17 runs over the course of his season as the plate.