The Joliet Junior College Wolves have won the NJCAA Division III World Series Championship! Two local young men were very pivotal in leading the Wolves to the top of the junior college ranks: Wilmington's Dillon Roark was the tournament's Most Valuable Player as well as taking honors on the all-tournament team, the NJCAA Division III All-American first team and the N4C All-Conference team.

Coal City's Brandon Howard joined Roark on all of above honorary teams!

Way to go fellas! Way to make your towns proud!

Roark compiled some gaudy statistics on the mound on his way to a 12-1 mark with a 0.98 ERA through 91.2 innings pitched! He struck out 108 with a mere 22 bases on balls. He went 2-0 without allowing a run in the World Series!

Howard hit a ridiculous .467 on the season. He set the single season hits record with 105 (in 59 games). He batted 62 runners in and stole 26 bases in 32 attempts (81.3%). For good measure he knocked out 5 dingers on the year! He hit .500 (9-18) with 11 RBI in 4 World Series games! There's a little bit of grumbling around these parts that "Howie" might have his name called sometime on Thursday when Major League Baseball holds its amateur draft....keep your finers crossed!

AS IF all that news wasn't COOL ENOUGH, check this tidbit:

The American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA), in conjunction with the NJCAA, has named Joliet Junior College (Ill.) outfielder Brandon Howard as the NJCAA Division III Baseball Player of the Year.

Woo Hoo- way to go Howie!

Howard finished the regular season with a .464 batting average, which ranked 10 th in the nation. He drove in 49 runs and tallied 25 doubles and five home runs for the Wolves. His efforts also earned him First-Team NJCAA Division III All-American honors.

His play helped lead Joliet to a No. 1 ranking in six of the seven RINGOR^TM NJCAA DIII Baseball Rankings in 2008 and propelled the Wolves to their fifth straight Region 4 title. Joliet also advanced to their third-straight NJCAA DIII World Series by again winning the District B title. Howard was named the Region 4 Championship MVP and received All-District B honors as well.

Howard's great play at the Division III World Series helped the Wolves clinch their first national title in baseball since 1994. Howard posted a .500 batting average and led all hitters in the World Series with 11 RBIs and nine runs scored. He tallied 12 total bases and posted a .667 slugging percentage and was named to the All-Tournament team.

Howard's final stats, including the post-season, were very impressive. He finished 2008 setting a new NJCAA Division III record with 105 total hits, breaking the previous record of 90 hits in a season set by Joliet's Kevin Boyd in 2001. He wrapped up the year with a .466 batting average with 26 doubles, five homers, 60 RBIs and a .706 slugging percentage. He also scored 82 runs and stole 26 bases.

Howard, who also posted a .983 fielding percentage playing predominately in left field, is being heavily recruited by many four-year institutions and has yet to decide where he will continue his baseball career.

...keep on eye on our local guy in tomorrow's draft!!!