POLLESCHULTZ’S MASTERFUL OUTING LIFTS NO. 5 BLINN BASEBALL PAST WHARTON COUNTY IN REGION XIV SOUTH REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

Polleschultz tossed a four-hit, complete-game shutout and struck out 16 Pioneers to send his team to the Region XIV Super Regional

When Dusty Hart attempted to end Ben Polleschultz’ outstanding pitching performance after seven innings Sunday, the freshman said “no.”

When Hart tried again following inning eight, the fifth-ranked Blinn College baseball team made its collective voice heard.

“The team was adamant that we give Ben the baseball and let him finish what he started,” the Buccaneers’ third-year skipper said. “Sometimes you just have to lay it all on the line and roll with it, and I’m glad we did.”

A mere 72 hours after tossing 56 pitches and lasting just two innings in a Region XIV South Regional Tournament first-round loss, Polleschultz returned in a must-win situation and mowed down Wharton County Junior College on 129 pitches en route to a four-hit, complete-game shutout in Blinn’s 4-0 victory in the tournament championship in Brenham, Texas.

The Buccaneers (44-13) won the South Regional for a third consecutive year and advanced to the Region XIV Super Regional series, where they will host rival San Jacinto College-North beginning Thursday, May 15, in Brenham.

Leading the charge was Polleschultz.

The right-hander struck out a career-high 16 hitters while issuing just two walks. The Region XIV South first-team selection improved to 6-1 on the year and lowered his earned run average to 3.68.

After getting out of a bases loaded jam with a strikeout in the seventh, Polleschultz was approached by Hart and pitching coach James Leverton, who were preparing to bring his day to an end. When Polleschultz assured his coaches he could continue, Leverton had one request for the young hurler.

“Don’t be a goofball,” Leverton insisted.

Polleschultz obliged by striking out the Pioneers in order in the eighth and fanned one more to open the ninth before retiring the next two hitters of the game on a groundout and popout to end it.

“I wasn’t going to let the coaches pull me out of the game; I wanted to finish it,” Polleschultz said. “I rested the past couple of days and refused to let my tough start on Thursday transition over to today. I saw the way our guys had been battling to win out to win this regional, and I wanted to help finish that effort.”

After Blinn dropped its tournament opener to Paris Junior College, it staved off season-ending elimination with a victory over Northeast Texas Community College on Friday. The Bucs followed with a triumph over Paris on Saturday, and added another victory Saturday when it topped Wharton County to force Sunday’s winner-take-all title tilt.

“Our backs were against the wall, but we were resilient this week,” said sophomore catcher Matt Quintanar. “The goal is to get to (the JUCO World Series in) Grand Junction (Colo.), but right now we’re just taking things one game at a time.”

With the help of Quintanar’s third-inning solo home run, Blinn did just enough offensively to back Polleschultz. 

In the sixth, Quintanar led off with a double and came home on a wild pitch, and sophomore Lane Allen added an RBI single before freshman Kason Atkins’ RBI double made it 4-0.

Quintanar finished with two of Blinn’s five hits. 

“We played an atypical week of baseball at Leroy Dreyer Field,” Hart added. “Normally the wind blows out; these last five games we had hard winds blowing in pretty much from start to finish. We crushed some balls that got caught, but our guys maintained their confidence and stuck with the game plan to grind out these victories.” 

With the focus now on the super regional, Blinn will host San Jacinto in the JUCO World Series qualifier for a second consecutive season. The Bucs won the 2024 super regional series 2-1 over the Ravens and went on to capture their first national championship.

This year’s super regional will feature a matchup of former coaching colleagues, as Hart will pit his team against a Ravens squad led by first-year head coach Eric Weaver. Weaver served as Blinn’s associate head coach and pitching coach for the 2023 and 2024 campaigns.

San Jacinto finished one game behind Blinn in the Region XIV South standings this spring, but captured the seven-game season series 4-3.

“What more could you ask for; that’s the way I look at it,” Hart said. “This should be a great series, and that’s what you want; you should want to test yourself against another great team and find out what you’re made of. The talent is going to be the same in both dugouts, so I think the team that does more of the little things the right way will be the team heading to Grand Junction when it’s all over.” 

Story Courtesy of:

Joe Alberico   
Blinn Sports Information Specialist