NJCAA Div. 3 North Plains District Preview
The North is over looked and it shouldn't be heres why
Welcome to the north the State and region that gets overlooked when it comes to Junior College baseball more than probably any other state and region in the country. Most people A. do not pay much attention to the Div. 3 junior college teams. And then B. They do not tend to look at the North Plains area for talent or schools that are good. And if you have followed along over the last few years you know we try to highlight what is going on up there because it is part of the junior college landscape that gets overlooked more often than not.
Now do they play as many games as the rest of the country… no… but the games they do play are filled with talent and when they play out-of-region competition early in the season they tend to have success.
The king of this District since before Covid has been St. Cloud Tech. They have gone to 3 consecutive World Series and over that span have lost just 25 games over 3 years which for any team at any level is impressive.
Century has been the other consistent team that has been up on the national stage from this region. They have had a few down years but they are always right in it at the end of the season.
The newcomer on the block is Alexandria Tech who burst on the scene in year one last year and looks to be better than last year's team that ended up tied for the conference title last year.
Teams/Previews
Region 13: Alexandria Tech, Anoka-Ramsey, Central Lakes, Century, Minnesota North - Hibbing, Minnesota North - Itasca, Minnesota North - Mesabi Range, Minnesota North - Rainy River, Minnesota North - Vermilion, Minnesota State, Minnesota West, North Dakota SCS, Northland, Ridgewater, Riverland, Rochester, St. Cloud Tech, Western Tech
Pre-Season All-District Team
*Pre-Season Player of the Year, + Pre-Season Pitcher of the Year
INF: Carter Lang - Alexandria Tech, Mason Kostka - Vermilion, Jacob Merrill - Alexandria Tech, Shane Erickson - Rainy River
C: Kristopher Rivera - Hibbing - Florida National
OF: Fernando Marte* - Minnesota West - Florida National, Demarques Ortega - Rainy River, Connor Hoyt - Northland
P: Rees Campanale+ - Rochester - Central Michigan, Logan Bullock - Alexandria Tech, Yohan Hiraldo - Minnesota West - Florida National
Predictions
Alexandria Tech
St. Cloud Tech
Century
Rochester
Minnesota West
Noah’s Team to Watch: Alexandria Tech
Over the last few years, we have seen a couple of schools jump on the scene in their first couple of years and make noise. Alexandria Tech tied for the conference title last year and coming into year 2 as a program they look to be poised to make the jump and be the top dog. A great group of Guys returning and guys coming in that are going to make this a fun and dangerous team to watch this year.