The Mercer County Community College baseball program had one goal in mind from the first pitch of the season.
Get back to the NJCAA Division II World Series in Enid, Oklahoma for the first time in five years.
Head coach Fred Carella’s Vikings got hot and did just that. Mercer made a push toward the end of the regular season which had them ranked No. 17 in the Week 12 NJCAA D-II baseball poll. The Vikings started the campaign unranked so it is taking the underdog mentality going into the World Series.
Mercer was the tournament’s runner-up in 2017 so its main goal this year is to leave with a better result. The Vikings won the East District tournament over UConn Avery Point on May 15, and await their opponent for the World Series.
“Success in the tournament would be to win the whole thing,” infielder Josearmondo Diaz said. “I recognize that getting here is already a great accomplishment itself. With that being said, my eyes are now set on the national title.”
Flexing a powerful lineup is what has guided the Vikings to this point. Mercer has won eight of its last night games and scored 10-plus runs in seven of them. Some scores even resembled a low-scoring football contest when the Vikings scored north of 20 runs twice in the stretch.
Diaz leads the Viking offense batting .490 with an on-base percentage nearing 60%.
He said Mercer would not be a team he would want to face if he were an opponent.
“Especially if I’m another pitcher, I would never want to face this lineup,” Diaz said. “Everybody can hit, the numbers are there consistently. We’re just putting up video-game numbers. I’d be scared to face our lineup.”
Scoring runs at an early rate is one of the top assets for Mercer. As a team, the Vikings batted .355 and drove in 492 runs on the year, including 64 home runs.
“The best thing about our lineup is that there’s really no soft spots, one through nine,” Carella said. “In the district tournament, every guy in the lineup hit a home run and everyone but our eight-hole hitter hit at least two.”
Diaz is proud this group managed to provide consistent run support for the pitching rotation. He said freshman southpaw Brett Mutz, who leads the Vikings with a 4.44 ERA, has made the most improvements from the beginning of the season to now.
“As soon as I saw him, I knew he could be good,” Diaz said of the young hurler. “Especially in the winter break, he really gained a lot of (velocity), he worked on his pitching. I feel like Brett has surprised everybody on the team.”
Mutz feels more confident in himself knowing that he has the runs to back him up and solid defense in the field.
His command has mainly been through his fastball and change up. Those two, he calls his “bread and butter.” He has also incorporated a curveball so he can keep hitters off balance.
“I’m not somebody who’s going to overpower you, I’m pretty crafty,” Mutz said. “I like to work my fastball up (and see) if I get some swinging misses.”
Mutz attributes much of the team’s success to the relationship the pitchers have with Diaz as the catcher.
“He understands how to catch, he understands how to call pitches,” Mutz said. “I think he builds a good relationship with us when we’re in practice, when we’re hanging out off the field. He’s a real good guy to be around.”
Carella said there is a unique atmosphere with this tournament. He was an assistant coach with Mercer during its last World Series tournament run in 2017.
The Division II World Series features an expanded field of 10 teams, with representatives coming from the following regions: Central (Heartland, Ill.), East (Mercer), Great Lakes (Lansing, Mich.), Gulf (Pearl River, Miss.), Mid-Atlantic (Frederick, Md.), Midwest (Madison, Wisc.), North Plains (Kirkwood, Iowa), Plains (Murray State, Okla.), South Atlantic (Florida State Jacksonville) and West (Phoenix, Ariz.).
The World Series draw takes place on Tuesday.
Carella emphasized that even though this tournament does not get the branding and notoriety as the NCAA Division I counterparts, “you can’t tell what level of baseball you’re playing.”
“Everybody can play. You’re out there trying to win a national championship,” Carella said. “There’s a great atmosphere and I know our guys will embrace it.”
The entire town gets involved, too. Enid packs the David Allen Memorial Ballpark, which seats 3,000 people. One year, Carella said his players went to a couple barbecues at the homes of fans.
His players are as excited about the opportunity to contend for a title.
“Last year graduating high school, I never thought that I’d be playing in a World Series, especially for Mercer,” Mutz said. “It’s been a great year, great team … I’m ecstatic. I’m hoping we can bring some hardware back to New Jersey.”
