Coyote baseball finishes season as one of the best in the tough NTJCAC

By Rick Mauch

Before COVID-19 wiped out the 2020 baseball season after 27 games, head coach Jeff Lightfoot and his Weatherford College Coyotes thought they were on the verge of a fine season. After all, they were 17-9-1 overall at the time with a 6-1 conference record.

A year later, with numerous players returning from that squad (the NJCAA granted an extra year of eligibility), the Coyotes did finish the season, posting one of the highest win totals in program history and advancing to the playoffs.

The Coyotes finished with an overall record of 37-20. In the Northern Texas Junior College Athletic Conference, they were 22-10, finishing second behind McLennan Community College.

The Coyotes returned to the postseason, where they advanced to the semifinals of the west bracket of the Region V Tournament. After opening with an 8-0 loss to Odessa College, WC upset Howard College 4-3 before getting eliminated by Cisco College 8-6.

Howard was the champion of the Western Junior College Athletic Conference. Cisco, which was fourth in the NTJCAC, got on a hot streak in the postseason.

The Coyotes had one of the most explosive offenses found, scoring 10 or more runs 14 times. They belted 69 home runs (fourth in conference) as a team, yet they were patient, receiving 277 walks (first in conference). They were the third-best team at stealing bases (92).

They also had one of the stoutest pitching staffs in the league, ranking third with a staff ERA of 4.65. Coyote pitchers logged 484 strikeouts, the second-best total in the NTJCAC.

Their four shutouts were fourth in the conference. Weatherford's .963 fielding percentage ranked second in the league. And the stat that might be the most impressive—WC did not lose a conference series all year.

"Finishing second in the tough Northern Texas Junior College Baseball Conference is an accomplishment," Lightfoot said. "Our league was again one of the toughest in the country. After playing one of the hardest schedules in JUCO baseball, walking away with 37 wins is something to be proud of. We want to be one of the best teams in the country year-in and year-out, and I think we did that. Yes, we would like to win the conference and win the world series, but that's not the only goal.

"We had to fight through some adversity in the regional tournament. I am proud of the way our guys fought until the last out this spring. Our team did an outstanding job in the classroom this year as well."

Several Coyotes are headed to play NCAA Division I baseball next year.

"We will say goodbye to several good players this summer, but we are excited about what we have returning and the class that we have put together for the fall," Lightfoot said. "We plan to put our team in position again to fight for a conference title, a trip to the regional tournament and ultimately the world series."

Along the way, the Coyotes also gave Lightfoot yet another memorable moment in his career when they defeated visiting Seward Community College 14-3 on Feb. 6. It was his 700th career victory as a collegiate head coach.

Lightfoot's career record now stands at 731-505-1. At WC, he is 565-433-1.

The Coyotes ended the regular season ranked No. 19 in the nation.

Coyote season recap

Overall record: 37-20

Conference record: 22-10 (second)

Home record: 25-5

Road record: 9-13

Neutral record: 3-2

Postseason: 1-2 in Region V Tournament

National rank: 19 at end of regular season

Longest win streak: 8

Longest loss streak: 3 (twice)

Scored 10 or more runs: 14 times

Surrendered 10 or more runs: 10 times

Most runs in a game: 22-2 win over North Central Texas College

Team batting average: .293

Team ERA: 4.65

Individual leaders

Hitting

Batting average (minimum 100 at-bats) - Noah Boughton, freshman, .341; Brenden Dixon, freshman, .335; Austin Green, freshman, .320

Hits - Jacob Guerrero, freshman, 60; Brett Brown, sophomore, 59; Kameron Weil, freshman, 56

Doubles - Green, 15; Guerrero, 13; Dixon, 13

Triples - Brown, 3; Weil, 3; Dixon, 2

Home runs - Dixon, 10; Guerrero, 9; Brown, 9; Hunter Rosson, sophomore, 9

RBI - Brown, 56 (tied for fourth in conference); Guerrero, 50; Dixon, 39

Walks - Dixon, 47; Weil, 38; Green, 28

Stolen bases - Weil, 26 (attempted 29); Brown, 13 (16); Guerrero, 12 (13)

On-base percentage (minimum 100 at-bats) - Dixon, .495; Boughton, .450; Weil, .450

Slugging percentage (minimum 100 at-bats) - Dixon, .633; Boughton, .571; Rosson, .556

Hit by pitch - Weil, 10; Brown, 7; Dixon, 5; Guerrero, 5

Sacrifice flies - Bo Willis, freshman, 4; Brown, 3; Dixon, 2; Guerrero, 2; Green, 2; Rosson, 2

Total bases - Brown, 102; Dixon, 100; Guerrero, 100

Extra-base hits - Dixon, 25; Green, 23; Brown, 22; Guerrero, 22

Pitching

Wins - Adrian Siravo, freshman, 8-3 (tied for third in conference); Jase Lopez, freshman, 5-0; Matthew Hickey, sophomore, 4-1; Kade Bragg, freshman, 4-3

Saves - Hickey, 8 (first in conference); Lopez, 5 (third in conference); Hayden Alexander, sophomore, 2

Innings pitched - Siravo, 76.2; Bragg, 70.1; Lopez, 45.2

Fewest walks surrendered (minimum 35 innings) - Hickey, 13; Sam Collins, freshman, 16; Lopez, 20

Strikeouts - Siravo, 103 (third in conference); Bragg, 91 (fourth in conference); Lopez, 54

Strikeout average per nine innings - Siravo, 12.09; Bragg, 11.64; Lopez, 10.64

Earned run average (minimum 35 innings) - Hickey, 1.19; Lopez, 2.96; Bragg, 3.07