Here is a blurb on Miles Hamblin's Howard CC which is going to be the first NJCAA collegiate team in over fifty years to go undefeated in a baseball season.
BaseballAmerica.com: College: Weekend Preview: May 1-May 3
How's this for a streak? Howard JC is undefeated, 50-0, heading into its final regular-season series this weekend against Frank Phillips (Texas) JC. The Hawks are trying to become the first NJCAA team to post a perfect season since Wingate (N.C.) went 18-0 in 1956. No NCAA team has ever gone undefeated, though Division III Trinity (Conn.) got awfully close last year, going 44-0 before suffering its first loss of the season in the championship round of the D-III World Series. (Fortunately, that was a double-elimination event, and the Bantams bounced back to win the national title in the second game of a doubleheader that same day).
Howard coach Britt Smith said the thought of having a perfect season had never entered his mind until this year.
"You see that stuff on ESPN all the time, like UCLA and John Wooden, where they didn't lose a game in like forever," Smith said, noting the Bruins' 88-game winning streak in the early 1970s. "I didn't think it could happen in baseball, where you play so many games."
Early in the season, before Howard's offense really got going, its pitching carried it to some close victories, but once the bats warmed up, the Hawks were seldom seriously challenged. Until two weeks ago, at least, when Howard trailed heading into the final inning for the first time all year, against Midland (Texas). But Howard's leadoff man that inning hit a two-strike home run to tie the score, and the Hawks wound up scoring five more runs in the inning. A week ago at Clarendon (Texas), Howard trailed 8-3 after two innings but rallied back to win 12-9.
"We're a hard team to defend, because we can play so many different ways," Smith said. "We can bunt, we can play small ball and we have a ton of team speed, but we also have guys who can hit it out of the park one through nine. We put a lot of pressure on the other team."
The Hawks are loaded with professional prospects from Division I transfers Runey Davis (a speedy outfielder who arrived from Texas after last season) and Monk Kreder (a catcher who came from Texas Tech) to power pitchers Burch Smith, Anthony Collazo, Chase Adams and Zach Neal, who all can run their fastballs into the 90s.
But the team's best player and prospect is catcher Miles Hamblin, who is hitting .435 with 13 home runs 66 RBIs. Hamblin is still working on learning the nuances of catching (he was a third baseman when he arrived at Howard a year ago), but Hamblin offers a strong, accurate arm and true lefthanded power at a premium position. He also sets the tone for the whole team with his toughness.
"He's one of the toughest kids I've ever coached—he's like a cattle rancher," Smith said. "That guy's made out of wrought iron. He's always nicked up, but he never comes out of the lineup, ever. I'm afraid to pull him, afraid he'd kick my (butt). He's a great kid, just a competitor."
Having a leader who evokes Jack Palance's Curly from City Slickers is a major asset for a team with aspirations of perfection. To survive every team's best shot every game, you've got to be tough.
"The one thing with us is being on this kind of winning streak, early on we were 20-0 and people were saying, 'You guys need to lose a game,'" Smith said. "With 36 to go, we were thinking, 'Sure, (losing a game is) going to happen.' Going undefeated has never entered your mind. Going forward, every team wants to be the team that beats us. They come out every game and it's game seven of the World Series all over again. It's forced our kids to play at a high level every day. We've been playing playoffs for about three and a half, four weeks."