Johns Hopkins earns top seed in Division III baseball championship tourney
The spring college sports season is just about done, but there is still the matter of baseball championships to decide.
The Maryland Terrapins have reached the regional round for NCAA Division I, and the Johns Hopkins Blue Jays have made it to the Division III World Series.
Johns Hopkins has long been one of the best baseball programs in Division III. They've made it 25 times to the NCAA Tournament, and now they reach the final eight, or the World Series, not to be confused with MLB's championship. This is the team's sixth time in the final eight, but they have never won it all.
For Head Coach Bob Babb, now in his 44th season at Hopkins, this may be his best chance. The Blue Jays own the No. 1 overall seed, a record of 44-5 and they have set the Division III record for home runs this season. So, it's bombs away starting this Friday in Cedar Rapids.
"A lot of us had never been to Iowa, there was only a few guys that had been there before. So, we just have an opportunity to compete and play baseball with each other. To have no school and to be able to literally just do baseball is just so much fun," said Matthew Cooper, a Jays senior outfielder.
"Any time that you can spend most of your day with 18-22-year-olds who are on a mission, who are bright kids, who work hard and who are fun to be around, it doesn't get any better than that," said Babb.
Salisbury will also make its way to Cedar Rapids. The Sea Gulls earned the No. 2 overall seed.
The Jays play No. 8 Misericordia at 11 a.m. Friday. The Gulls play No. 7 East Texas Baptist at 5:30 p.m.