SMOOTH RIDE: Crowder baseball 27-8 going into final stretch
Mar. 26—Crowder's baseball team may be called the Roughriders, but their last 25 games have been anything but. It's been smooth sailing on a 22-3 run since they were 5-5, making them 27-8 overall as the final stretch of the season begins.
The Roughriders have used a high-powered offense to their advantage during this successful run over the last 25 games.
"The offense has really carried us most of the year," Crowder head coach Travis Lallemand said. "We've been putting up some really crooked numbers."
Crowder ranks third in Division I of the NJCAA in runs scored (348), runs batted in (310) and walks (226). It also comes in fifth in hits (356) and triples (18). Seventy-five doubles for the team is good enough for seventh in the country.
That offense is led by 2023 first-team all-American Kolton Reynolds. Reynolds ranks eighth in runs (44), tied for first in doubles (16) and tied for second in triples (5). Reynolds is a sophomore from Huntsville, Arkansas.
Fellow sophomore Easton Swofford is from Southside High School in Arkansas, and he is second in the country with 51 runs scored and sits tied for fourth with 36 drawn walks.
First baseman Joey Morton is fifth overall in RBIs with 49. Morton is a 6-foot-4, 220-pound redshirt sophomore.
The pitching staff is led by sophomore right-hander Ashton Branson, another Arkansas product. He comes from Sheridan. He was an honorable mention all-American last season.
Branson is fifth in the nation with 63 strikeouts. He has a 5-2 record with four complete games and 40 innings pitched in eight total starts. His 14.17 strikeouts per nine innings ranks seventh among Division I pitchers.
The staff as a whole has walked a few too many batters for Lallemand's liking, but he said he's otherwise been pleased with the performance on the mound.
"The pitching staff has been able to pitch with a lead a lot, so that's a big part of it," he said. "Not only that but we have some back-end bullpen stuff that's been great and can really shut down a game.
"The only area we need to continue to pick up is we've walked quite a few guys on the mound. That's something we have to get a tourniquet on as we continue to get close to postseason."
The junior college level has teams boosted by fast base runners at times and can really take over a game with that ability to grab an extra base. Getting early leads for the pitching staff helps Crowder to limit those base stealers sometimes.
"It definitely puts a second thought in the minds of those guys running," Lallemand said of his team's early leads.
Crowder has shown flashes of having its best offense on the field or its best pitching, and there have been days the defense has struggled to be solid.
"We haven't put all three things together yet, and when we do, man, this club's got a chance to be special," Lallemand said.
The Roughriders are back in action at 6 p.m. Thursday at home against St. Charles Community College.
