Eagles earn passage to best two out of three series to advance to NJCAA World Series
Above Photo: Veterans of the NTCC team that in 1996 won the NJCAA World Series Championship under Coach Ty Harrington returned for the unveiling of the 30th anniversary commemorative monument on the same afternoon the 2026 team split a double header to bring the North Zone championship tournament home to Bob Baker Stadium at Northeast Texas Community College.
From The East Texas Journal
By Hudson Old, Publisher
Head Coach Andy Morgan’s 2026 NTCC team will play a best two-out-of-three series against Blinn with the winner advancing to the NJCAA World Series. The three-day playoff begins Thursday, May 14 in Waco.
“It’s the furthest we’ve been in post season since the 1996 club that won the World Series,” said Northeast History Professor Rex Allen.
The Eagles cinched the conference North Zone title May 2, the same afternoon players from Coach Ty Harrington’s 1996 team returned for the unveiling of a monument commemorating the 30th anniversary of their World Series championship run.
“Winning creates opportunity,” Coach Harrington said. “This team opened a career path to professional opportunities I’d never have had without them.”
Now a player on the Texas sports speaker’s circuit, Coach Herrington has retired from a 30-year coaching career with a finishing run at NCAA Division 1 Texas State.
“There’s more to the story,” he told the players returning for the monument unveiling. “I grew up in locker rooms. On a personal level, the opportunity to be your coach revived my understanding of what it means to be part of a team bound by a common goal.”
Forces of fate conspired on the day of the ceremony.
With the best record in the North Zone, Coach Andy Morgan’s 2026 team took the field needed one win on a double-header afternoon to earn home-field advantage for the 3-day North Zone Championship tournament.
After dropping the opening game, Eagle bats came alive in the second with a come from behind rally bringing the championship tournament to Bob Baker Stadium.
“They never quit,” observed Professor Allen, a die-hard fan.
A week later he was on hand for the North Zone tournament in which Coach Morgan’s Eagles battled back through the loser’s bracket to force a May 10 Sunday-afternoon winner-take-all showdown with Navarro’s Bulldogs.
For the Eagles, destiny took a meteorlogical turn.
DATELINE, Paris, Texas – It was a dark and stormy night.
As certain and slow as a glacier, the day opened with the Eagles home-field tournament advantage melting away against the radar wall of marauding thunderstorms sweeping across East Texas.
With threatening weather closing on the 2 p.m. game time, the winner-take all North Zone tournament final was moved 50 miles north to a 6 p.m. start at the Paris Junior College field.
Off-and-on drizzling rain saturated the air. As game time neared, a clap of thunder announced the jagged thrust of a lightning strike dealing a death blow to the Paris Junior College field lights, reported NTCC President Dr. Kevin Rose.
“Game delay,” he reported along a text-thread of college insiders left behind in homes across the 3-county Northeast college district.
Time stood still.
“Game moved to Paris High School field,” came the next Presidential update.
“It was cold, dreary and wet,” remembers Professor Allen. Yet behind the clouds was a silver lining.
“At the high school park I was able to pull up to the right field fence and leave the heater running,” Professor Allen said.
“First pitch,” texted President Rose at 7:30 p.m.
The next update arrived just after eight.
“End of 1,” it read. “NTCC batted first, scored 2; held Navarro to 0. (2-0, Eagles).
Somewhere far away, earlier in the day Brenham’s Blinn Community College team won the South Region Tournament, setting up the Super Regional two-out-of-three series against the winner of the Paris game that would send the losers home and the winners to the Conference Championship with Blinn.
Meanwhile, the text thread coming from Paris went dark.
“How’s Rex making it?” one of those left marooned in the dark messaged President Rose, breaking the silence.
“Still watching from the right field parking lot,” he answered.
The hour crept toward 9 p.m. before he wrote again: “End of 4. Still 2-0, Eagles.”
More silence. Time crawled deeper into the night.
“Incoming!” President Rose alerted the text-tribe huddled over phones. “End of 8. Eagles up 4-0. Top of the ninth. Eagles at bat.”
Shortly, the script took an ominous turn.
“Bottom of the 9th. Navarro’s loaded the bases. One out. Eagles changing pitchers.”
Scarcely a moment passed before the next: “Struck out batter! Two down.”
Nobody needed reminding the bases remained loaded with tying run coming to the plate.
Thudding heartbeats counted passing seconds.
“Eagles Win!” read the evening’s closing message.
With that, the Eagles advanced to the Conference Championship series against Blinn with the opening game at 6 p.m. in Waco at Bosque River Stadium on the campus of McClennon Community College.
To be continued . . .
