JENKS — Playing the first game of the Men's Division 1 Region 2 Baseball Tournament scheduled to begin Thursday at noon on Jenks High School's Hinch Field, No. 2 seed Northeastern A&M's Golden Norsemen face No. 5 seed No. 5 seed Arkansas Baptist College (4-15 and 29-27) of Little Rock in a nine-inning game.  
BRACKET 

"We've just played 51 games this season, so if we're not ready for the post-season I don't know why we wouldn't be," NEO head coach Roger Ward said. "That's what the seasons for is to prepare you to advance in the post-season and I think we're prepared."
NEO, ranked 25th in the NJCAA baseball rankings, finished second in the Oklahoma Collegiate Athletic Conference with a 13-7 record and a 36-15 overall mark. Last season the Golden Norse entered the double-elimination tournament as the No. 3 seed and dropped a 9-5 decision to Seminole State in the losers' bracket finals to finish third with  a 32-17 season mark.
"We got a solid draw given the history of this region," Ward said. "In years past the lower seeds like Rose State and Arkansas Baptist have had some real dominant pitchers for the first and second games, but I don't think it's like that this year."
Arkansas Baptist of Little Rock finished 4-15 in the conference and 29-27 overall. NEO won three of the four in the series including a 7-5 victory on April 29 in a makeup game in Fort Smith, Ark. "We are very familiar with Ark Bap, we know how to beat them and they know how to beat us.  This should be a good game."
No. 3 seed Seminole State (13-7 and 35-16) will play No. 4 seed Eastern State College (11-9 and 26-26) at 3:30 p.m. Thursday.
Defending Region 2 Champion Connors State College, ranked No. 4 in the nation, received the No. 1 seed for the tournament. Coach Perry Keith's Cowboys won the OCAC regular season crown with a 14-6 record and are 44-11 overall. The Cowboys will face No. 6 seed Rose State College (4-15 and 15-30) at 7 p.m.
With a victory, the winner will face the winner of the Seminole-Eastern game in the winners' bracket quarterfinals at 3:30 p.m. Friday. The NEO-Arkansas Baptist loser faces the winner of the Connors-Rose State game on Friday at 7 p.m.
"Right now we are a very confident group going into the regional even though we haven't quite hit full stride," Ward said. "These guys know how to win, it just makes you wonder as a coach when they start hitting on all cylinders what they are capable of."
"Because they are an awfully talented group of kids, if they just go out and play the game at a high level, they're going to be a very difficult team to beat," Ward said. "As a coaching staff we have a pretty good idea of what we're going to do with our lineup and our rotation. We're just going to stay consistent with what we've been doing."
With a .306 team batting average, the Golden Norsemen are led by sophomore utility outfielder Ramon Laureano (5-11 from the Dominican Republic). Laureano is hitting .440 with 66 total hits including 15 doubles, one triple and 12 home runs. He also leads the team with 65 runs batted in while scoring 49 runs. 
Veteran center-fielder Alex Wise (6-1 from Neosho, Mo.) has a .333 batting average in 156 at-bats. He leads NEO with 23 stolen bases while producing nine doubles, three triples and one home run. Wise also leads the Norsemen with 50 runs scored while collecting 31 RBI.
Freshman shortstop Brad Antchak (5-11 from British Columbia) is hitting .315 in 168 at-bats. He has 19 stolen bases with nine doubles, six triples and four home runs. Antchak has collected 37 RBI with 47 runs scored.
Fourteen players toed the mound for the Golden Norsemen during the regular season and posted a combined 4.73 earned run average.
Sophomore right-hander Michael Fusselman (6-3 from Melissa, Texas) compiled a 5-4 record through 62 innings. He recorded 39 strike outs and 14 walks with a 4.79 earned run average.
Veteran right-hander Zach Cantwell (6-1 from Oologah) compiled a 6-1 record with one save in 50.2 innings of work. He posted 37 strike outs and 33 walks with a 6.37 ERA.
Sophomore right-hander Jake Jewell (6-3 from Norman) led NEO with eight saves while compiling a 3-3 overall record in 26.2 innings.  Jewell leads the Golden Norse with a 2.36 earned run average.
"We're not going to try and re-invent the wheel in this tournament," Ward said. "We just want to stay consistent with what we're doing."