570+ NJCAA Alumni Competing in NCAA DI Baseball Championship
Charlotte, NC – Over 570 former National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) student-athletes and coaches are competing in the 2026 NCAA Division I Baseball Championship. Regionals are May 29-June 1, followed by Super Regionals on June 5-8. The tournament culminates with the Men's College World Series on June 12-21/22 in Omaha, Neb.
In The Numbers
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59 of 64 NCAA teams have at least one student-athlete or coach who was previously at the NJCAA level.
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210 NJCAA schools are represented in the field.
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149 coaches or student-athletes competing previously played at the NJCAA Division II level.
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12 coaches or student-athletes in the tournament played NJCAA DIII baseball.
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Iowa Western leads the NJCAA with 14 people on the list. Northwest Florida State and Des Moines Area (IA) have 13 while Florence-Darlington (SC) and Wharton County (TX) have 12.
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On the NCAA side, Lamar has the most former NJCAA individuals with 36 total, 34 student-athletes. Kansas has 28 total with 24 student-athletes and Little Rock has 24 total with 22 student-athletes.
Stacking the CARDS
Lamar University's baseball roster is full of former NJCAA standouts. Southland Conference Pitcher of the Year, Chris Olivier, was named Southland Pitcher of the Week four times this spring and was named the MVP of the Southland Conference tournament. The former Delgado Community College (LA) All-America honoree was also selected as a 2026 College Baseball Foundation National Pitcher of the Year semifinalist. Lamar's roster features student-athletes who transferred from 22 different NJCAA member institutions.
The JUCO Jayhawks
Another roster relying heavily on junior college talent is the University of Kansas. Tyson LeBlanc (LSU Eunice), Cade Baldridge (Cowley), and Jordan Bach (Northeastern Oklahoma A&M) have started all 58 games this season. LeBlanc and Baldridge lead KU in batting average, and LeBlanc also leads the team in hits, home runs, RBI, and stolen bases. Augusto Mungarrieta (Rochester CTC & Northwest Florida State), Brady Ballinger (Southern Nevada), Tyson Owens (Cochise), and Dylan Schlotterback (Paris) have all started 50 or more games this season, along with Dariel Osoria (Western Oklahoma State) starting 49. Kansas' top two pitchers by ERA are NJCAA alumni: Mason Cook (McLennan) and Mathis Nayral (Cochise). The Jayhawks are led by Head Coach Dan Fitzgerald who previously coached at Des Moines Area Community College (IA) and North Iowa Area Community College, along with his three assistants who all have NJCAA ties as well.
Coaches Association Hall of Famer with the Reins for Rider
Acting Head Coach for Rider University baseball, Dr. Barry Davis, has a rich NJCAA background. An inductee into the NJCAA Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2016, Dr. Davis won four NJCAA Division III national championships as Head Coach at RCSJ-Gloucester (NJ). He accumulated 434 wins and was named NJCAA DIII Coach of the Year four times. While with the Roadrunners, Dr. Davis was chosen as the Head Coach of the National Junior College U.S.A. National Team in 1999. Dr. Davis led the Rider program for 20 years before stepping down prior to the 2025 season; he served as Acting Head Coach in 2026 due to a leave of absence in the team's leadership.
Other Names to Know
Tyler Myatt achieved the Triple Crown in NJCAA DI Baseball in 2025, leading the nation in batting average, home runs, and RBI. He was selected as the NJCAA DI Player of the Year, Perfect Game's JUCO Player of the Year, ABCA/Rawlings' NJCAA DI Player of the Year, NJCAA All-America First Team honoree, and a member of the NJCAA DI World Series All-Tournament Team after helping Walters State to a runner-up finish. Myatt has been used as a pinch hitter lately for Tennessee and is batting .250 with a .353 on-base percentage.
Sherman Johnson, a regular in NC State's lineup, is batting .327 this season with 54 hits, nine home runs, and 48 RBI. Johnson was named the Most Outstanding Defensive Player at the 2025 NJCAA Division I World Series with McLennan (TX) and was recognized on the All-Tournament Team.
Brendan Brock, who has started 52 games for the Oklahoma Sooners this season, left his mark at Southwestern Illinois in 2024-25. Brock set a new program record for career home runs with 35, was selected as the 2025 Region 24 Player of the Year and was an NJCAA First-Team All-America honoree. The junior is batting .266 with 53 hits, 10 home runs, 43 RBI, and 25 stolen bases this spring.
Jabe Boroff, former Enterprise State (AL) catcher and utility player, has earned a consistent spot in the lineup for Troy over the past month. Boroff was named the Alabama Community College Conference (ACCC) Player of the Year, Alabama Baseball Coaches Association (ALABCA) Junior College DII Player of the Year, and the Alabama Sports Writers Association (ASWA) Community College Athlete of the Year. He earned NJCAA DII All-America honors and National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) All-American accolades.
The listing below compiled by the NJCAA National Office is composed of former NJCAA student-athletes and coaches competing in the 2026 NCAA DI Baseball Championship. If you know of a former student-athlete or coach who will be participating in this year's championship that is not listed, please send an email to media@njcaa.org.
About NJCAA
Since 1938, the NJCAA has served as the premier governing body for two-year collegiate athletics, providing student-athletes with opportunities to prepare, compete, succeed, and achieve in both their academic and athletic disciplines. The NJCAA is the second largest national intercollegiate athletic organization in the United States, with over 500 member schools, 60,000 athletes and 3,400 teams competing in 28 different sports. Each year, the NJCAA sponsors 57 national championships and invitationals.
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