The Jones College baseball team entered the 2026 season with one goal in mind: win. Four months later, the Bobcats finished with 41 wins – 18 losses, the Region 23 Tournament title, the Super Regional title and the team’s first trip to the NJCAA Division II World Series since 2016.
Throughout the 2026 season, from start to finish, the Bobcats embraced a relentless mindset. Head coach Wesley Thigpen instilled a next man up mentality among his players, which allowed them to get better both individually and as a team.
“We felt all year that we had the pieces to be a special team, but with a lot of young talent they had to go through some tough spots to grow and get better,” Thigpen said. “This was a really close, tight-knit team that would do anything for each other no matter who was playing and who was not.”
Before the season even started Coach Thigpen had been working on setting a winning standard. Ever since he arrived at Jones, he has been building a culture focused on winning. The Bobcats’ all-time record under Coach Thigpen is 182-83, and the team has a win percentage of .687. The team this season finished 18-10 in conference play while also having a 21-4 record at home.
“This team definitely lived up to the winning standard, but that is not only on the field but off the field as well,” Thigpen said. “They did a great job of continuing to raise the bar for years to come. The standard is always the standard and that does not change.”
Jones entered the postseason with a record of 35-16, qualifying for a spot in the Region 23 tournament. Ten teams competed in a bracket format, eliminated only when they lost twice. The Bobcats’ first game was a 13-5 win against #24 Copiah-Lincoln. Their next two games would be against a familiar opponent in the number one ranked Pearl River. In the first game, Jones got the edge in a close game with a 2-1 victory. What started out as a slow second game quickly changed as the Bobcats scored 10 runs in the fourth inning. Forcing the game to end early, Jones has a statement 13-0 win, claiming the Region 23 Tournament.
“We try to approach every game with the same intensity and focus no matter who we are playing, but going into the tournament the team had a different look in their eyes and a relentless approach to everything they did, on the mound, in the field and at the plate,” Thigpen said. “Playing Pearl River for the fourth and fifth time in the year, we knew everything we were going to see. It was a great game in the first one and both sides played a great game, and we found a way to win at the end.”
While the Region 23 Tournament could not have been won without the offense, it was the pitching staff that set the tone. In game one against Copiah-Lincoln, Colton Smith got the start. Smith, who recently earned all MACCC second team, pitched all seven innings and only allowed five runs.
The second game was a true pitchers’ duel with Brayson Graham starting on the mound and pitching six shutout innings. At the top of the final inning Warren Hutchinson hit a single allowing Brady Smith to score and take the lead. In the bottom of the inning, it was Trevor Hodges that came in and closed the game out to secure the 2-1 win for the Bobcats. With one more game left in the tournament, it was a true team effort in the dominating 13-0 win.
“Colton Smith really stepped up, down the stretch for us,” Thigpen said. “His last five outings were all complete games on the mound and that is special and hard to do at any level. Trevor Hodges had the ball in some of the biggest moments of the year and always answered the call, and the team had a lot of confidence with those two on the mound. Drew Lambert threw a great game in the Poplarville regional championship game, throwing a run-rule shutout. At the plate it really was a full team effort from top to bottom of the order. They had some really big hits and did a great job with two-out RBIs.”
By winning the Region 23 Tournament, Jones qualified for the Ellisville Super Regional. The Bobcats would face another familiar opponent in Northwest in a best-of-three series that determined which team would advance to the NJCAA Division II World Series.
“We had just played Northwest two weeks before and played two extra-inning games,” Thigpen said. “Our guys came out extremely focused and our lineup once again did a great job scoring a lot of runs.”
In the first game of the Ellisville Super Regional, Colton Smith started on the mound for Jones. Smith only gave up five runs and pitched all seven innings for the second time this postseason. It was back and forth on the offensive side, but Brayden Quick broke the game plan open in the fifth inning by hitting a grand slam to increase the Bobcats’ lead to 10-4. Jones would go on to win the first game 13-5.
In the second game, the Bobcats would continue to produce at the plate, being led by Warren Hutchinson and Brayson Graham. Hutchinson had a big hit in the fifth inning that put three more suns on the board. Starting the mound was Canyon Reeves who went four innings and allowed six runs. Trevor Hodges, who just earned MACCC pitcher of the year, came into the game in the fourth inning and did not allow a single run. Ultimately, the Bobcats would win the game 10-6, punching their ticket to Enid, Oklahoma.
“Colton Smith threw another complete game in Game 1,” Thigpen said. “Brayson Graham, Canyon Reeves and Trevor Hodges in Game 2 were good, especially Hodges coming in and throwing the last three innings of shutout baseball. Game 1 was really put out of reach by a Brayden Quick grand slam, and in Game 2 Warren Hutchinson had a huge two-out bases-loaded double that cleared the bases.”
Winning the Ellisville Super Regional, Jones qualified for spot in the DII World Series. This tournament is double elimination in a bracket format. After coming off multiple big wins, the Bobcats came into their first World Series game hot defeating #18 Fredrick 8-2. Jones would go on to lose back-to-back games against #5 Madison College and #9 Iowa Central, ending their historic season.
“2016 was the last time Jones went to the World Series,” Thigpen said. “It meant a lot to get back to Enid. We fell a little short of our ultimate goal of winning a national championship, but these guys bought in from day one.”
With Jones being a two-year college, the team loses almost half its players every year, but the college’s success in the sport is the winning culture built by Thigpen. It all starts from recruiting and making sure the returning players uphold the standard.
“Maintaining a winning culture comes from recruiting the right guys that you feel are the right fit to the program on and off the field,” Thigpen said. “When they do a great job of holding each other accountable and having a player-led team, good things happen. They know the standard of the program in recruiting when we watch them play and sit down with them and their families. We want them to know what those standards are and the expectations when arriving to campus.”
The Bobcats will be losing both team captains, Infielder Talan Theriot and pitcher Colton Smith. They will also be losing multiple key players in Chase Russel, Drew Lambert, and Dylan Champagne. However, the culture of the team will not be lost.
“This group lived up to the standard, but it was because they trusted the process and believed in it from day one,” Thigpen said. “This group was the definition of relentlessness all year long.”
Jones baseball ended the season with many successes, including finishing among the top eight teams in the DII World Series. Although the season ended without a national championship, the Bobcats proved they could compete with some of the best teams in the country. Throughout the season and looking into the next, the mindset will always be the same: Win.
by Jackson Vella
