A collective yell went up in the Govs locker room as soon as they heard the news.
The Wallace Govs are the new #1 team in the nation. In the latest NJCAA Baseball rankings released Monday afternoon, the Govs have jumped from #3 to #1. It is a first for the college.
"It's pretty damn cool; I'm not going to lie," head coach Ryan Ihle said. "It's just a huge, huge testament to our guys and how they've gone about their business this year. Playing well and playing consistently and continuing to get better. This means a lot to our guys. I know that. But I also know from listening to them since the news broke, they're not satisfied."
"We've got to continue to take care of business in order to remain number one. If we didn't have a target on our back before this week, we do now."
The guys on the team are both proud and excited, but not surprised.
Said sophomore Warrick Wilmot, "This means everything to me. This kind of progress throughout the year is absolutely amazing. I'm so glad me and my brothers get to experience being ranked number one but I can't wait to see what else this season has in store for the Govs."
Sophomore third baseman Sean Darnell said he is not surprised. "We've worked really hard to get to this point but I'm really not worried about it. I'm just trying to go out there and finish the rest of the year. It's special, but it's just rankings. We haven't done anything yet."
Sophomore catcher Grayson Ashe said it's about time. "It's not shocking when you put in the amount of work that we put in. We started back in the fall and have been building up to this. We've just got to keep climbing and working hard. We've just got to keep doing our thing."
One thing this number one ranking does is, it raises the profile of Wallace Community College and the baseball program.
"It puts us on the map," Ihle said. "Hopefully people will understand that team down in Dothan, Alabama is a pretty damn good program. I hope that recruits and people that are looking to come be a part of the Govs realize what kind of program we are. We're not just a junior college program that puts a team together. We're a team that competes nationally and now is the number one team in the country."
