First ever meeting between both HBCU Baseball programs.
Wiley University travels to Talladega College for a three-game, Saturday-Sunday Gulf Coast Athletic Conference (GCAC) baseball series this weekend. With this key matchup, Black College Nines previews this series and predicts the series winner.
The two conference members are ranked in Black College Nines’ 2024 Top 10 small school poll and are part of GCAC’s baseball expansion which now guarantees that the HBCU conference will have at least one representative with an automatic bid to the NAIA National Tournament.
Wiley University concluded the 2022 season wrapping up its time in the Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC). The Wildcats began competing in the GCAC in 2023. They were a founding member of the RRAC in 1998 which included fellow HBCU programs Huston-Tillotson University, Jarvis Christian University, and Texas College.
Talladega College concluded its time in the GCAC at the end of the 2021 season and started competing in the Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) in 2022. While in the GCAC, Talladega had recent success at the national level, with baseball national tournament bids in four NAIA National Opening Round tournaments (2014, 2017, 2018, and 2019) and four Gulf Coast Athletic Conference (GCAC) championships. They are known for scheduling 20 to 25 games against the nation’s top NAIA ranked teams listed in the Top 25 Coaches Polls every year…upsetting many of those teams.
The matchup between the teams is a test that could determine the GCAC and national seeding when the conference tournament starts in May. Both teams are contenders for the conference title and hope to get into a position to be invited to the NAIA National Tournament and the Black College World Series.
Offensively, Wiley was off to a slow start, but appeared to be breaking out from struggling to score runs with runners in scoring position. This team returned the entire roster from last season’s team that competed in the 2023 Black College World Series in Montgomery.
The Wiley Wildcats, 18-14 overall and 12-0 in conference play, are led by Jhan Carlos Javier who is among the leaders in the NAIA with a .450 batting average, Ryan Ready, Ivan Del Villar, Amir Mason, Jacob Perez, Eddie Garza, and Allan Mendoza provide strong bats.
Wiley Statistical Batting Leaders
| Player | BA | GM | AB | R | H | HR | RBI | SB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jhan Carlos Javier | .450 | 25 | 80 | 29 | 36 | 7 | 26 | 10 |
| Ryan Ready | .418 | 28 | 91 | 33 | 38 | 6 | 42 | 8 |
| Ivan Del Villar | .312 | 31 | 93 | 23 | 29 | 7 | 29 | 8 |
| Amir Mason | .304 | 26 | 79 | 18 | 24 | 1 | 13 | 16 |
| Jacob Perez | .298 | 29 | 84 | 32 | 25 | 1 | 19 | 15 |
| Eddie Garza | .323 | 25 | 65 | 28 | 21 | 1 | 9 | 28 |
| Allan Mendoza | .405 | 17 | 37 | 13 | 15 | 0 | 10 | 9 |
On the mound, Wiley is led by RHP Keyon Guillory, freshman RHP Jaylen Cream, and RHP Isaac Burciaga. Righties Josiah Jackson, Daniel Cox, and Jaylen Porter should see weekend action when needed.
Wiley Pitching Leaders
| Player | W | L | ERA | APP | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | K | HBP | BA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Keyon Guillory | 4 | 6 | 5.40 | 12 | 9 | 0 | 40.0 | 39 | 24 | 32 | 50 | NA | NA |
| Jaylen Cream | 2 | 0 | 2.45 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 36.2 | 33 | 10 | 8 | 28 | NA | NA |
Talladega College, 21-14 overall and 9-2 in the GCAC, is a good hitting ball club and is battle tested. The Tornados have won six games against NAIA ranked teams and national powers this season.
At the plate, the team features Miguel , the leading hitter in the NAIA with a .509 batting average, Nomar Garcia, Armando Jackson, Victor Rivera, Darlin Fernandez, and Isaac Guzman. Additionally, Eddie Velazquez is hitting .346.
Talladega Statistical Batting Leaders
| Player | BA | GM | AB | R | H | HR | RBI | SB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Miguel Oropeza | .509 | 35 | 110 | 41 | 56 | 5 | 39 | 14 |
| Nomar Garcia | .349 | 35 | 109 | 23 | 38 | 2 | 23 | 16 |
| Armando Jackson | .348 | 33 | 92 | 8 | 32 | 2 | 20 | 1 |
| Victor Rivera | .345 | 34 | 113 | 37 | 39 | 0 | 11 | 24 |
| Darlin Fernandez | .325 | 33 | 117 | 37 | 38 | 6 | 19 | 13 |
| Isaac Guzman | .306 | 32 | 98 | 18 | 30 | 1 | 27 | 7 |
| Eddie Velazquez | .346 | 27 | 52 | 12 | 18 | 3 | 13 | 5 |
On the pitching side, Talladega boosts the arms of Samual Guadamuz with a 3.16 earned run average, Jose Franco and Helson Fernandez and go to guys like Ramses Ortega with 40 strikeouts and Jose Daniel. With one of the strongest rotations in HBCU baseball, Talladega hurlers have some signature wins in 2024.
The Tornadoes have knocked off teams nationally ranked in NAIA Top 25 like Faulkner University, Thomas University, Columbus State, Georgia Gwinnett College, Loyola University (LA), and Campbellsville University.
Talladega Pitching Leaders
| Player | W | L | ERA | APP | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | K | HBP | BA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Samual Guadamuz | 6 | 1 | 3.16 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 51.1 | 45 | 18 | 18 | 68 | 8 | .239 |
| Jose Franco | 5 | 3 | 4.17 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 45.1 | 49 | 21 | 25 | 48 | 13 | .271 |
This weekend’s matchup is a crucial test for Wiley and Talladega. These two teams will meet in the GCAC conference tournament in which Talladega has dominated in recent years prior to the current new league formation which has more teams.
Saturday afternoon’s doubleheader could feature a matchup of impressive starters when Wiley’s Guillory, Cream, or Burciaga are expected to take on Talladega’s Guadamuz and Franco. If each are on top of their games, pitching could decide the outcome for both ball clubs.
Wiley enters the contest having won its last 12 conference ballgames and includes a non conference ninth-inning, nine-run come from behind rally to send the game into extra innings concluding with 11-10 walk-off win over Texas A&M Texarkana this past April 2. Talladega is heading into the series having split a four game series with No. 10 Faulkner last weekend and two wins over Tougaloo April 2 in a mid-week conference game.
The challenge for Wily this weekend will be Tornados’ Guadamuz, who is coming off an NAIA Player of the Week award. Guadamuz pitched a complete-game, seven-inning shutout win over No. 10 Faulkner University on March 28. He struck out 11 of the 24 batters faced, while allowing two hits and a walk.
The Wildcats should be well positioned to counter that, as they enter this series with a better on-base percentage and slugging percentage in the GCAC. Sophomore Jhan Carlos Javier has been really swinging a hot bat.
This match up will be closely followed by Black College Nines’ top ten “small school” poll voters. Talladega is currently ranked No. 3 and Wiley is ranked No. 9 in the latest BCN poll. This series should have a major implication for both teams in the next rankings positioning themselves for the Black College World Series scheduled for May 8-11, Riverwalk Stadium, Montgomery, AL, and the NAIA National Opening round.
These two programs appear evenly matched. Expect one or two one-run games during the three-game series. Both head coaches, Wiley’s Kendrick Biggs and Talladega’s Marcos Dominguez, will go all out to win the series.
Black College Nines prediction… the team that wins the series must limit mistakes to win the innings. Expect a blowout in the series finale.