While the competition is sure to be tough, Riverland is looking forward to playing in the junior college baseball world series in Tyler, Texas this weekend.

The Blue Devils (37-8 overall) will open up with Richland, Texas, the top team in the nation (43-13 overall) Saturday at 9 a.m. and games will run all the way until Thursday at the double elimination tournament.

“They’re a real strong hitting team and they’ve got four guys hitting .400 or better. Almost all of their losses are to Division I and II schools.” RCC head coach Scott Koenigs said. “We have to come out and play.”

RCC finished the season ranked No. 6 in the nation and Koenigs is hoping his team comes out relaxed and not nervous as it takes on some of the best junior college teams in the country.

“If we play well and don’t win, that’s OK,” Koenigs said. “But I think if we play our ‘A’ game we can win some games down there. Obviously we’d like to win the whole thing and we’re not just content to be there.”

With Brandon Huhn (5-1 overall, 2.35 ERA) nursing a sore arm, Koenigs is uncertain of who will throw at the series. Brady Banse (6-2 overall, 2.4 ERA) and Brian Voigt (4-0 overall, 0.32 ERA) will likely be in the mix.

“It’ll depend on what kind of hitting team Richland is. I’ll have to do some scouting,” Koenigs said. “We may also go with multiple guys for two to three innings at a time and keep mixing it up. There’s a lot of guys who want the ball in their hands on this team.”

The Blue Devils haven’t lost a game in the postseason and they earned their stripes early in the season when they took on some tough teams in their annual trip to Florida. Koenigs said those games were a launching pad for the season.

“We played a lot of solid teams down there and now we’re playing better baseball at the right time,” he said.

RCC has won 20 of its last 21 games and it has gotten some big hitting from Kyle Starkey (.474 average, 12 doubles, 39 RBIs) and Andy Behnke (.369 average, 46 RBIs).

Getting to the tournament should be a big boost for RCC’s program.

“It puts Riverland baseball on the map. I’m just happy for all of the guys who worked so hard in the offseason to get better,” Koenigs said.