Wild tournament ends with Joliet as Region 4 Champions
JOLIET, ILL - The 2023 NJCAA Region 4 Division III Tournament was completely unpredictable, and when the dust settled on a wild five days, Joliet Junior College was crowned the champions for the first time since 2015. The top-seeded Wolves, who finished the regular season ranked #8 in the NJCAA Division III Poll, went 3-1 with sophomore Jake Wilk named the Region 4 Tournament Most Valuable Player and Gregg Braun took home Region 4 Coach of the Year honors.
Joliet Junior College began the postseason with a lopsided 8-0 win over fourth-seeded Milwaukee Area Technical College, and then took down sixth-seeded Harper College 7-3 to halt a run of back-to-back upsets over third-seeded Waubonsee Community College and second-seededCollege of DuPage for the Hawks to reach the semifinals. The Chiefs exacted some revenge with a 16-7 victory over Harper to complete an impressive run through the loser's bracket and into the championship.
When Sunday's rains clearned and the teams met on Monday, May 15, Waubonsee kept their momentum going with a 7-4 win in the championship, marking their fourth consecutive victory and avoiding elimination to force a winner-take-all second game. The Wolves grabbed an early 4-1 lead, only to see WCC rally with a six-run fifth inning. A six-runs top of the sevneth, including a go-ahead run-scoring hit from Jake Wilk, gave JJC a 10-6 decision and a spot in the NJCAA Great Lakes District Tournament.
Region 4 Tournament MVP
Jake Wilk - Joliet Junior College
Region 4 Coach of the Year
Gregg Braun - Joliet Junior College
A week later, Joliet welcomed third-ranked Owens Community College (48-4), champions of Region 12, to town for a best-of-three series for the right to advance to the 2023 NJCAA Divison III World Series. A 6-0 shutout win in the opener was followed by a 7-4 setback that forced a winner-take-all third game on Saturday, May 20. The Wolves seized contol with a 4-1 lead midway through the fifth inning, however, OCC responded with three runs in the bottom half to pull even. The Joliet bats kept the pressure on as they plated two runs in the seventh, three in the eighth, and one in the ninth for a 10-6 victory to earn a trip to the national tournament in Greeneville, Tennessee, from May 27 to June 1.
Joliet Junior College (39-23) will begin the Division III World Series as the #4 seed, and will take on #5-seed and #6-ranked Northern Essex Community College (36-6) at 6:15 p.m. on Saturday, May 27.