Velarde, Midland College baseball eye JUCO World Series bid in super regional

May 13-AJ Velarde believes the No. 9-ranked Midland College baseball team is back to playing the way it was earlier in the season.

That can only be great news for the Chaparrals, who will look to get out of a tough NJCAA Region V/Southwest District Tournament this week in Weatherford and earn their first berth into the JUCO World Series since 2014. The No. 1-seed Chaps (47-10) begin play in the four-team, double-elimination "Super Regional" at 3 p.m. Thursday against old rival Howard College (31-25).

"This is probably the biggest series of my life," said Velarde, a sophomore third baseman and Midland Christian grad. "It's a really big moment for us and I couldn't tell you how excited the guys are, especially coming together and playing the game that we love."

MC is coming off a 2-1 series win against Hill College in the first round of the postseason in which the Chaps had to battle back after losing game 1, 10-8. The Chaps bounced back with a 10-7 win in game 2 and then an impressive 8-0 victory in seven innings to close the series.

"We felt like the energy wasn't there (in game 1)," Velarde said. "We had a talk and we knew we had to bounce back. If we had lost that game, that would have been our last game together as a sophomore group. We knew that we had to come back strong. After winning that first game, all we had to do was win that second game. We knew we needed it."

Velarde said after experiencing some ups and downs as a team late in the season, the Chaps started to regain some momentum after a 12-6 win in the series finale at Odessa College on May 2. He said against Hill, the bats are once again heating up.

"I just feel like the boys are really hot," he said. "We're coming together and we've come so far. We're where we want to be."

Velarde, who had a big freshman year, didn't have a strong start this season as it took him a couple of weeks to find his groove at the plate. He said it was a humbling experience to go through.

"Having the coaches and staff just supporting and believing in me, it's been a really good year," said Velarde, whose dad and former big leaguer, Randy, is a volunteer assistant coach with the Chaps. "I feel like I've grown as a person, and I've understood that failure is a part of baseball. I kind of learned to accept and bounce back from it instead of letting it get you down. Overall, I've grown as a person in the sport. It's been very humbling. At the end of the day, it's just you versus you out there. You've got to be mentally strong and always believe you're the best, always have that confidence in yourself."

Velarde indeed turned it around this season and is batting .324 with 10 home runs, 11 doubles, three triples and 43 RBI. He also has a .455 on-base percentage.

"AJ has done a good job for us," said MC coach Hector Rodriguez. "He scuffled early and he would be the first one to tell you he wasn't where he wanted to be, but kind of got back to it in the latter part of the season. He's tried to put himself in a good position to have some quality at-bats. When I think of AJ, I think of some of the big hits he's had, especially late in the season. He's been able to grind at-bats out, he's been able to go compete, score runs, hit a big double, hit a ball out of the park, things like that. You also know you're going to get good defense from him."

Velarde has committed to play at Wichita State where he will join former NJCAA All-American and MC teammate Josh Wulfert.

"I loved the coaching staff, great facilities," said Velarde about Wichita State. "I like how the coaches don't just look at you as a player but as a person. It seemed like they really care about their players and care more about their development."

Before he takes his talent to play with Shockers, Velarde would love nothing more than to help the Chaps get back to the JUCO World Series.

"We've got to keep believing in ourselves," he said. "I feel we're already on a hot streak with the sticks and the team is coming together. And I feel this is most united we've been. We've just got to keep doing us, not put any more pressure on what we need to do, and just be ourselves."

NJCAA SOUTHWEST DISTRICT SUPER REGIONAL

NO. 9 MIDLAND COLLEGE VS. HOWARD COLLEGE

When/where: 3 p.m. Thursday, Williams Ballpark, Weatherford

Livestream: TSBNSports.com

Seeds/Records: No. 1 Midland College, 47-10; No. 4 Howard College, 31-25

Notes: Howard upset North Texas Junior College Athletic Conference champion Grayson College with a 2-1 series win on the Vikings' home field to advance to this round. ... MC won three of four games from the Hawks during Western Junior College Athletic Conference play and MC coach Hector Rodriguez said Howard has some good hitters and a couple of good pitchers. "At this time of year, if you get to the super regionals, you're doing something well," Rodriguez said. "We've got information on them, they've got information on us. It just comes down to executing the scouting report and executing what we think will put us in the best chance to go and win the game. I like our matchup against them, and we just have to go out and do it." ... Sophomore left-hander Logan Flores (11-1, 4.20 ERA) will start against the Hawks ... The Chaps were 0-2 against No. 21 Weatherford College and lost its only game against No. 10 McLennan Community College (10-2) in the non-conference schedule. "You can't get caught up with who's in the other dugout," Rodriguez said. "We've played all three teams that are there, so there's not going to be a shock and awe on who's in the opposing dugout. It has a chance to be a fun and exciting super regional." ... Thanks to the way his team closed out the series against Hill, especially with an 8-0 win in game 3, Rodriguez believes that the Chaps have some momentum going in. "You can't ask for a better way to finish out a series and move on to the next round where you're just trying to survive and advance in game 3," he said. "We hope to carry that confidence and a little momentum into the super regionals because it will be a tough one." ... The winner of this tournament advances to the JUCO World Series May 23-30 in Grand Junction, Colorado.

NJCAA Southwest District Super Regional

Thursday-Sunday

At Williams Ballpark, Weatherford

Double-elimination format

Thursday

Game 1: (2) Weatherford College (39-18) vs. (3) McLennan Community College (45-11), noon

Game 2: (1) Midland College (47-10) vs. (4) Howard College (31-25), 3 p.m.

Friday

Loser's bracket elimination game

Game 3: Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, noon

Winner's bracket semifinal

Game 4: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 3 p.m.

Saturday

Elimination game

Game 5: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 loser, noon

Winner's bracket final

Game 6: Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 3 p.m.

Sunday

If necessary game: Game 6 winner vs. Game 6 loser, 1 p.m.

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This story was originally published May 13, 2026 at 10:04 PM.