Bracket sets up for showdown

Tuesday, May 3, 2005 | 9:42 a.m.

Schedule

Western District Championship

NJCAA World Series

The Community College of Southern Nevada and Dixie State are already junior college baseball powers who have a rich rivalry in the Scenic West Athletic Conference.

They are on track for another showdown when the NJCAA Region 18 playoffs begin Thursday, and CCSN secured the potential home advantage by beating the Rebels this past Saturday in St. George, Utah, for the SWAC crown.

That the Coyotes (44-12, 30-10 in the SWAC) have split their past 10 games was of scant significance to CCSN coach Tim Chambers before practice Monday at the Henderson campus.

"I think we're playing our best baseball all season, so I'm OK with it," he said. "I don't look at it that way. It's a tough conference. I'm happy to win the conference and be at home."

Because he knows what's at stake.

Two years ago, CCSN won the regular-season league title, then defeated Dixie at home before advancing to Grand Junction, Colo., where the Coyotes won their first NJCAA World Series in the fourth year of the program.

Last year, Dixie won the SWAC, beat CCSN and then won a World Series of their own.

"It's a huge rivalry," Chambers said. "You couldn't write it any better ... the last two national champions fighting it out with one game separating us for the conference championship. I was ecstatic we could get out of there and be at home now.

"The way I'm looking at it, we're six wins away from Grand Junction."

In a double-elimination Region 18 tournament in Morse Stadium at the Lied Baseball Complex, Southern Idaho and Eastern Utah play at 2 p.m. Thursday, and the Coyotes play the winner at 6 p.m.

Those outcomes will determine Friday's games.

In St. George, Salt Lake and Colorado Northwestern play at 2 p.m. Thursday, and Dixie plays the victor at 6 p.m. Friday's games will be determined by Thursday's action.

The winners from the two pods will play at CCSN for the Region 18 title in a best-of-three series that begins May 12. That champion will advance to the Western District Championship, at a site to be determined, May 19-21.

The NJCAA World Series will be played May 28-June 4 in Grand Junction.

Dixie (37-14, 29-11) had been 20-0 on its home field until last weekend, when it won the first games of doubleheaders Friday and Saturday. But CCSN rebounded to win both second games, and the conference title.

Aaron Brady, a freshman right-handed pitcher and a Utah native who had thrown eight innings all season, left the bullpen to toss a strong five innings of relief for Chambers.

"Offensively, we were lights out," said Chambers, who counted 45 hits for his team in the four games at Dixie. "We kept coming at them, and they kept coming at us. They had a lot of things going for them. Then Brady shut them out for five innings."

CCSN boosted itself in March by taking three out of four from the defending national champs at Morse Stadium.

However, Chambers only wanted to say so much about Dixie. If the Coyotes face CSI ace Troy Grundy, who has allowed CCSN only one run over 14 innings this season, at the end of this week ...

"We'll have our hands full with that guy," Chambers said. "Before we start thinking about who we'll play next week, there's a lot of chicken left on the bone, my friend."