COLBY, Kan. (KJCCC.org) – Winners of the last two Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference Softball Division 2 regular season titles, Johnson County Community College has been picked to win a third-straight KJCCC Softball Division 2 regular season title in the annual KJCCC Softball Division 2 preseason order of finish poll as voted on by league head coaches.
The Cavaliers earned nine of the 12 first-place votes and were picked to finish no lower than third to finish with a total of 140 points in the preseason poll to finish ahead of second-place Neosho County who earned 121 points despite not earning a single first-place vote. Last season, Johnson County went 19-3 in KJCCC play as part of a 46-12 overall record with the Cavaliers finishing as NJCAA Plains District Tournament runners-up and earning an at-large berth into the NJCAA Division 2 Softball World Series where JCCC went 2-2 with wins over Phoenix College and Central Alabama Community College. Neosho County put together a 39-16 overall mark last season which included an 18-4 record in conference play as the Panthers finished third at the Plains District Softball tournament with their two losses coming to District Tournament runner-up Johnson County and District Tournament Champion Fort Scott.
Following a third-place finish last season, Cowley has again been picked to finish third by earning 116 total points with one first-place vote to finish just ahead of fourth-place Kansas City Kansas (109 points, one first-place vote) and fifth-place Fort Scott (108 points). Labette received the lone remaining first-place vote and was picked sixth with 80 total points followed by Allen (71 points), Coffeyville (49 points), Independence (49 points), Highland (42 points), Cloud County (31 points), and Hesston College (20 points). Since the 2018 and 2019 seasons, no KJCCC Division 2 softball team has made consecutive appearances at the NJCAA Division 2 Softball World Series with Johnson County the last team to accomplish the feat by going in both 2018 and 2019. Following the cancellation of the 2020 tournament due to COVID, the conference has been represented at the World Series by Highland (2021), Kansas City Kansas (2022), Independence (2023), Fort Scott (2024), and Johnson County (at-large berth, 2024).
The 2025 season will kick off on Friday, January 31st with Coffeyville taking on both Murray State and Dodge City in Tishomingo, OK. Conference play will begin on Thursday, March 27th with all 12 teams playing a doubleheader against the remaining 11 teams in the conference to create a 22-game conference slate that will continue through the final day of the regular season on Saturday, May 3rd.
The top eight teams in the final regular season standings will earn a spot in the 2025 NJCAA Division 2 Plains District Softball Tournament which is scheduled to take place May 7-11. The winner of the double-elimination tournament will earn a bid into the 2025 NJCAA Division 2 Softball World Series which will take place May 19-24 in Oxford, AL.
