Delgado seeks JUCO World Series 3-peat in South Central District tournament

(NOTE: The tournament schedule has been pushed back 24 hours because of rain. Updated information below.)

NEW ORLEANS – In the first four decades of the Delgado Community College baseball program, it reached the Junior College World Series twice – in 1985 and 2007.

This weekend at Kirsch-Rooney, the eighth-ranked Dolphins go after a third straight trip to Grand Junction, Colorado, when it welcomes Eastern Oklahoma and Maple Woods for the South Central District Championship.

The double-elimination event begins was scheduled to begin Friday, but overnight rains and the forecast for more rain has pushed the start of the tournament back 24 hours. Eastern Oklahoma and Maple Woods meet in the tournament opener Saturday at noon, with Delgado beginning play at 3:30 against Eastern and then facing Maple Woods at 7.

The opening-day results will determine the rest of the bracket. The remaining games are scheduled for 7 p.m. Sunday and 1 p.m. Monday (if necessary).

The entire South Central District Championship will air live on SportsNOLA.com and will be simulcast on Delgado’s student radio station, Dolphin Radio 98.9 FM.

Delgado (33-14), which won its seventh straight Region 23 championship May 8, is hosting the South Central District event for the first time since 2011.

“There’s a lot of advantages,” Delgado coach Joe Scheuermann said. “Our parents get to see our kids play, our kids get to sleep in their own beds.”

While Delgado is no stranger to this portion of the season, only the Eastern Oklahoma and Maple Woods coaches are familiar with the district tournament, junior college baseball’s equivalent to a super regional.

“We’ve been there and done that,” Scheuermann said. “These two clubs that we’re playing haven’t even experienced the South Central District playoffs. I think it’s a tremendous advantage.”

The visiting teams present a much different look than Delgado, which has hit just 22 home runs while playing home games at a pitcher-friendly home park in Kirsch-Rooney. Brother Martin graduate Daniel Lahare has 10 of those homers along with a .389 average and a team-best 44 RBI.

Eastern Oklahoma (32-30) has a .327 team batting average and 74 home runs, while Maple Woods (32-25) hits .347 as a team with 73 homers.

“Both these clubs play in much smaller ballparks than we do,” Scheuermann said.

Delgado got to this point by winning a best-of-seven series against Baton Rouge Community College for the Region 23 crown.

Eastern Oklahoma came out of the loser’s bracket to win five games in three days last weekend, including a Sunday sweep of nationally-ranked Connors State to win the Region 2 title.

Maple Woods also comes in on a five-game winning streak, including a three-game sweep in last weekend’s Region 16 tournament.

The winner of this weekend’s event will join nine other teams in the JUCO World Series beginning May 28 in Grand Junction.