Coyotes enter regional on high note 

Enzo Ferrari, the founder of the Ferrari automobile, once famously said of auto racing, "What's behind you doesn't matter." 

That said, the Weatherford College Coyotes are entering the postseason as one of the hottest baseball teams in the country.

That's despite a slow start (7-8) and a midseason slump (five straight losses). The Coyotes (37-18) overcame that adversity to come into the NJCAA Region V Tournament May 7-9, having won 14 of their past 16 games.

They are the No. 2 seed from the Northern Texas Junior College Athletic Conference and will host New Mexico Military Institute (38-18) in a best-of-3 series at Roger Williams Ballpark Thursday and Friday (Saturday if necessary), May 7-9. All games begin at 1 p.m. The Broncos are the No. 3 seed from the Western Junior College Athletic Conference. 

"I think we're in a good state as a ball club of understanding what championship postseason baseball looks like," said first-year Coyotes head coach Jud Kinzy. "We've been learning and growing together all year. The growth has shown tremendously in the last month of what this team is capable of doing when they put their mind to it." 

The tournament also has NTJCAC No. 1 seed Grayson (34-15) hosting WJCAC No. 4 seed New Mexico Junior College (35-20), WJCAC No. 2 Odessa (38-15) hosting NTJCAC No. 3 McLennan (43-11) and WJCAC No. 1 Midland (45-9) at home to NTJCAC No. 4 Hill (34-18). 

Last season, Region V instituted a new postseason format in which the top two seeds in the NTJCAC and the WJCAC play host to the Nos. 3 and 4 seeds. This year, the winners of each of these best-of-three series advance to a super regional May 14-17 at the site of the highest remaining seed from the NTJCAC. If there are no NTJCAC teams remaining, the super regional will be at the site of the highest remaining seed from the WJCAC. 

The Coyotes come into the postseason as one of the most explosive teams in the nation offensively. They have scored 10 or more runs 30 times and are 24-6 in those games, along with being 10-0 in games in which they scored 15 or more runs. 

Defensively, when they hold an opponent to two runs or less they are 18-0. 

"We've been super offensive on certain days, and that's been very fun to watch and needs to translate to postseason play," Kinzy said. "The pitching has been up and down throughout the year but, I feel like we're hitting our stride right now on the mound and growing up a ton."  

Ranked No. 21 in the nation itself (once as high as No. 7), Weatherford College has not shied away from facing nationally-ranked opponents. Their resume includes splitting a pair of games at home against No. 3 Blinn, splitting four games at No. 14 Grayson, and sweeping two at No. 9 Midland in convincing fashion, 14-2 and 19-9. 

They've also taken on the likes of No. 2 Cloud County (Kansas) and share a conference with No. 10 McLennan, as they also do with Grayson. 

"This is the best conference in the country, one through nine. It's a tough matchup no matter who you get," Kinzy said. "We're more battle-tested than anyone in the country when it comes to conference battles, along with our non-conference schedule. 

"We've been playing one of the toughest schedules in the country like we always do - helps prepare us for the postseason. You cannot replicate top nationally-ranked opponents; it creates success and failures every pitch. If you want to be the best, you've got to go play the best." 

While they swept Midland, the Coyotes were 0-1 against Odessa (a 16-10 loss on the road) and New Mexico Junior College (an 8-5 loss in Abilene). They have not faced NMMI yet this season. 

The Coyotes' season began with a 7-8 record through the first 15 games. They bounced back to win 16 of 19, but a five-game skid left them at 23-16 before they began their current run of success. 

WC has a roster that is almost half and half freshmen and sophomores (19 freshmen, 23 sophomores). Kinzy said it's a good mixture, especially now that maturity is settling in throughout the entire team. 

"This roster has been a fun one to be around, good mixture of freshmen and sophomores from all over," he said. "We've battled some tough injuries throughout the year but, who hasn't? It's what makes you tougher. That's the type of depth we've shown this year. 

"Correcting mistakes and executing pitches with maturity. It's been fun to watch. These guys make you enjoy every day you're at the yard." 

And, he said, they each understand the Coyotes' long-standing tradition, one that includes a third-place finish in the 2023 NJCAA Division I World Series and consistently challenging for regional championships. 

"'90 Fight' is forever here, the black and gold tradition doesn't change. You're going to have to go through all of us, that's how it's always been," Kinzy said. "That tradition spreads throughout our locker room year-in and year-out from former and current players."