6/28/2007 - Hobbs, NM. When New Mexico Junior College's legendary baseball coach Ray Birmingham was recently tapped by the University of New Mexico to head up the Lobo program, many people wondered where the junior college would find someone who could measure up. NMJC had it covered. In fact, they found someone who could not only hold his own but who had also defeated Birmingham's Thunderbirds -- not once, but five times in two seasons!
6/20/2007 - Hobbs, NM. "A legend is gone" are words that are never welcomed, but it is the phrase soon to be heard at New Mexico Junior College as head baseball coach Ray Birmingham has resigned his post at NMJC to become the head baseball coach for the University of New Mexico.
6/14/2007 - Hobbs, NM. In a unanimous vote by the New Mexico Junior College Board on Monday, June 11, the school's baseball field was officially renamed "the Ray Birmingham Thunderbird Field."
6/11/2007 - Hobbs, NM. Three of NMJC's baseball players, Adalberto Santos, James Lilley, and Brian Cavazos-Galvez, were recently named to the National Junior College Athletic Association's All-American teams.
6/5/2007 - Hobbs, NM. In their second appearance in three years, the New Mexico Junior College Thunderbird baseball team battled at the 50th Annual JUCO World Series to finish as tournament runners-up.
6/5/2007 - Hobbs, NM. Two of New Mexico Junior College's baseball players received National Junior College Athletic Association specialty awards. Adalberto Santos received a Rawlings/NJCAA Baseball Big Stick Award and Kevin Atkinson received a Rawlings/NJCAA Gold Glove Award.
5/22/2007 2:39:14 AM - Hobbs, NM. The Thunderbirds are JUCO World Series Runners Up!!! They also placed four players on the JUCO World Series all-tournament team: 1B Kevin Atkinson, C Luis Cruz, LF Brian Cavazos-Galvez, and LHP J.R. Robinson.
Listen to What Ray Has to Say, a phone interview series from Coach Ray Birmingham at the 2007 NJCAA World Series in Grand Junction, Colorado: Last Episode (June 29, 2007): Part 1 | Part 2, June 2 Pre-Game/May 31 Post-Game, May 30 Post-Game/May 31 Pre-Game, May 29 Post-Game/May 30 Pre-Game, May 28 Post-Game/May 29 Pre-Game, May 28 Pre-Game, May 26 Post-Game, May 26 Pre-Game, May 25, May 24, May 21.
June 2 National Championship Final Game vs. Chipola College, Florida L 3-7: Game Video Highlights | The Daily Sentinnel Newspaper Game Recap Article | Game Photo Gallery | Box Score with Play-by-Play | Pre-Game Phone Interview with Coach Birmingham | The Daily Sentinnel Newspaper Pre-Game Article | Pre-Game Video Interview with 3B James Lilley | The Daily Sentinnel Newspaper Article about RHP Matt Speake | The Daily Sentinnel Newspaper Article about RHP Trevor Harden | The Daily Sentinnel Newspaper Article about Tournament Bracket and National TV Airing of Championship Game
May 31 Game vs. San Jacinto College, Texas W 10-9: Post-Game Phone Interview with Coach Birmigham | Game Video Highlights 1 Including a Feature with 3B James Lilley | Game Video Highlights 2 | Game Photo Gallery | The Daily Sentinnel Newspaper Game Recap Article | Houston Chronicle Game Recap Article | Box Score with Play-by-Play | The Daily Sentinnel Newspaper Thunderbird Foreign Players Article | Pre-Game Phone Interview with Coach Birmingham
May 30 Game vs. Western Nevada Community College W 11-1: Post-Game Phone Interview with Coach Birmigham | Game Video Highlights 1 Including an Interview with LHP J.R. Robinson | Game Video Highlights 2 Including an Interview with CF Everett Evans | Game Photo Gallery | The Daily Sentinnel Newspaper Game Recap Article | Box Score with Play-by-Play | The Daily Sentinnel Newspaper T-Birds, Wildcats Rivalry Article | Team Pre-Game Ritual Video | Pre-Game Phone Interview with Coach Birmingham
May 29 Game vs. Cowley County Community College, Kansas W 12-9: Post-Game Phone Interview with Coach Birmingham | Game Video Highlights 1 | Game Video Highlights 2 Including an Interview with Coach Birmingham | Game Photo Gallery | Box Score with Play-by-Play | The Daily Sentinnel Newspaper Game Recap Article | Pre-Game Phone Interview with Coach Birmingham
May 28 Game vs. Western Nevada Community College L 4-8: Post-Game Phone Interview with Coach Birmingham | Game Video Highlights 1 | Game Video Highlights 2 | The Daily Sentinnel Newspaper Game Recap Article | Game Photo Gallery | Box Score with Play-by-Play | Pre-Game Phone Interview with Coach Birmingham | The Daily Sentinnel Newspaper Article about NMJC 3B James Lilley
May 26 Game vs. Young Harris College, Georgia W 14-12: Post-Game Phone Interview with Coach Birmingham | Post-Game TV Interview with Coach Birmingham | Game Photo Gallery | Box Score with Play-by-Play | The Daily Sentinnel Newspaper Game Recap Article | Game Video Highlights 1 | Game Video Highlights 2 | Pre-Game Phone Interview with Coach Birmingham | The Daily Sentinnel Newspaper NMJC Tournament Preview Article
NMJC 2007 JUCO Baseball World Series Statistics | Overall 2007 JUCO Baseball World Series Statistics
NJCAA Baseball World Series Official Web Site | Final 2007 NJCAA Baseball World Series PDF Bracket
Photo Galleries: June 2: Championship Game vs. Chipola College, May 31: Game vs. San Jacinto College, May 30: Game vs. Western Nevada Community College, May 29: Game vs. Cowley County Community College, May 28: Game vs. Western Nevada Community College, May 27: Thunderbird Team Picnic, May 26: Game vs. Young Harris College, May 26: Thunderbird Team Photos, May 25: JUCO Banquet, May 24: Challenger Baseball Program JUCO Buddies Game, May 24: Thunderbird Batting Practice, May 23: Arrival Day Action, May 22: Leaving Hobbs and Batting Practice in Farmington
5/11/2007 1:04:56 PM - Hobbs, NM.
UPDATE: 5/15/07 6:00 p.m. MST - Lubbock, TX. The NMJC Baseball T-Birds defeated North Central Texas College 3-0 and won the NJCAA Region 5 Tournament! Box Score with Play-by-Play | Photo Gallery (367 Images)
Come to Grand Junction, Colorado, to support the T-Birds at the NJCAA World Series starting May 26 at 3:00 p.m. vs. Young Harris College, Georgia.
Right-click on bracket and select "Print" to print bracket. Right-click and select "Zoom In" to zoom in.
5/15/07 12:47 p.m. MST - Lubbock, TX. The T-Birds defeated North Central Texas College 12-7. Box Score with Play-by-Play | Game Photo of Kevin Atkinson Homerun Swing | Game Photo of Matt Speake Pitching | Photo Gallery (266 Images)
5/13/07 8:46 p.m. MST - Lubbock, TX. The T-Birds defeated Temple College 13-7.
Box Score with Play-by-Play | Game Photo of Luis Cruz Homerun Swing | Game Photo of J.R. Robinson Pitching | Photo Gallery (360 Images)
5/12/07 4:30 p.m. MST - Lubbock, TX. RHP Trevor Harden shut out Hill College and Brian Cavazos-Galvez went 3-for-4 with 2 RBI and a run scored as the Thunderbirds beat Hill College 3-0. Box Score with Play-by-Play | Photo Gallery (201 Images)
PREVIEW: The New Mexico Junior College baseball team wins its third consecutive WJCAC title and finishes the season ranked #1 in the country. NMJC has now finished #1 in the country for three straight years and WJCAC champs, a first time achievement in the WJCAC. Also, NMJC finished #1 in the country in team batting average with a .429 average. It marked the sixth time NMJC has led the country in hitting and the 14th time NMJC was one of the top three hitting teams in the country. The .429 average is also the second highest batting average in NJCAA history, just behind the Thunderbirds record-setting performance of .438 in 2001. NMJC holds four of the top five team batting titles in NJCAA history. The 2007 team was led by Adalberto Santos, who led the country in hitting with a .540 average. It marked the sixth time a T-Bird had led the country in hitting. Santos' mark is the fourth best batting average in school history behind Adam RIddle's .560 in 2001 (drafted by Pittsburgh Pirates) and Brian Bowes' (who went on to Texas A&M) .543 and .541 in 2001 and 2002.
The national ranking marked the 14th time NMJC has been nationally ranked and the fifth time it has finished in the top ten among NJCAA teams. It marks the 14th time since 1990 that NMJC has won over 40 games and the sixth time NMJC has won the conference. It also marked the 9th time Coach Birmingham was named Coach of the Year in the WJCAC.
NMJC Baseball Coach Ray Birmingham was named the head coach of the West All-Stars in the East vs. West NJCAA all-star game in Millington, TN, to be held June 12-16. Birmingham, who served as assistant coach on the 2004 all-star team that went to China and beat the Chinese all-star pro team, was named the head coach for the national all-star team in 2006 vs. China. Birmingham will select players from West Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, Kansas, Oklahoma, Iowa, Utah, Nevada, Arkansas and Illinois for the team. The teams will play a best of three series. The series is used to promote the talent in NJCAA baseball and will consist of the best freshman prospects in the country.
4/27/2007 - Hobbs, NM. With the Western Junior College Athletic Conference title and being ranked No. 1 in the nation by the National Junior College Athletic Association for the third straight week, the New Mexico Junior College Thunderbird baseball team is on its way to the Region V tournament that will begin on May 12 in Lubbock, TX.
4/19/2007 - Hobbs, NM. The New Mexico Junior College Thunderbird baseball team has added another player, an honorary one, to its roster: Josh Puckett.
4/17/2007 - Hobbs, NM. UPDATE: Tailgate Party and Baseball Game vs. El Paso CC Photo Gallery (492 Images)
Come one, come all! On Friday, April 20, 2007, New Mexico Junior College will host a Thunderbird Baseball Tailgate Party beginning at 11:30 am at the baseball field. A complimentary hamburger or hotdog, chips, and a drink will be served to all supporters as the T-Birds battle for the conference title.
4/17/2007 - Hobbs, NM. Former NMJC standout pitcher Brendan Donnelly moved from the Anaheim Angels to the Boston Red Sox this season.
4/11/2007 - Hobbs, NM. According to NJCAA Division I Baseball Polls, New Mexico Junior College baseball clutched the number one ranking with a total of 98 points and eight out of the ten first-place votes.
3/23/2007 - Hobbs, NM. Two Canadian baseball teams, the Pirates and the Junior Pirates, traveled to Hobbs this past week from Vancouver Island to make the New Mexico Junior College Thunderbird Baseball Field the site of their spring training.
3/20/2007 - Hobbs, NM. The New Mexico Junior College Thunderbird baseball team is and has been ranked fifth in the nation among junior college baseball for the majority of March.
3/16/2007 - Hobbs, NM. On Thursday, March 15, NMJC Thunderbird baseball team won two games at the Wooden Bat Tournament against Luna Community College and Cochise Junior College, giving NMJC's Head Baseball Coach Ray Birmingham his 1,000th and 1,001st career wins.
2/2/2007 - Hobbs, NM. New Mexico Junior College baseball has rescheduled their season opener, originally scheduled for Friday, February 2, 2007, against Luna Community College, for Saturday and Sunday, February 3 & 4, beginning noon each day at T-Bird Field on the NMJC campus.
12/22/2006 - Hobbs, NM. New Mexico Junior College's nationally renowned Thunderbird baseball program received an early Christmas present on Thursday, December 22, thanks to a number of talented inmates.
12/14/2006 6:43:33 PM - Hobbs, NM.Brian Cavazos-Galvez received the NJCAA Div. I Southwest District Batting Championship trophy today. The trophy represents the top batting average in a five-state area (Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and Oklahoma.) Cavazos hit .517 in NMJC's conference championship season of 2006. He was named all-American and all-Region 5. He added 10 homers, 65 RBI, 20 doubles, seven triples to his offensive totals that year. Cavazos was the sixth Thunderbird to receive that award.
12/8/2006 - Hobbs, NM. Thirteen New Mexico Junior College students, representing five campus organizations, delivered approximately 1,100 cans of food to the annual Hobbs Stuff-A-Truck food drive.
Baseball vs. Midland College Photo Gallery (438 Images)
NMJC Thunderbird Brian Cavazos-Galvez received the NJCAA Div. I Southwest District Batting Championship trophy for having the top batting average in a five-state area (Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and Oklahoma.) Cavazos hit .517 in NMJC’s conference championship season of 2006.
US Congressman Stevan Pearce proudly wears the New Mexico Junior College baseball jersey for the 45th Congressional baseball game.
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