The 2026 season is here and so are the weekly SSBR awards. In 2024 we began bringing attention to individual performances turned in by those on small college (NCAA D2, NAIA, NCCAA) teams and junior colleges.
Each week we send out nomination forms to the head coaches of each team in the various divisions above. We ask them to nominate only 1 position player and 1 pitcher with their stats for the week and any context they feel would help their player. We look at those nominations and choose the player or pitcher in each category that we feel had the best week. Also, each player or pitcher nominated will get recognized even if they don’t win.
Below you will see the winners for Small College (NCAA D2, NAIA, NCCAA) and JUCO.
Let’s take a look at the first winners of the 2026 season.
Small College
Player of the Week
Genesis Nunez (SS), OK Panhandle State
Genesis has started off the 2026 about as hot as a player can. Seven games into the season, Nunez leads all of NAIA in batting average, slugging percentage, and triples.
This past week, Nunez was even better as he led the Aggies to a series win over KCAC foe, York.
- .692/.714/1.308, 2 HR, 10 RBI, 2B, 3B, 2 BB, 7 R
Other nominees:
– Royce Florenzano, Southwestern Christian University
– Braden Pingel, Southern Nazarene University
– Yulian Gaston, Randall University
– Landon Meyer*, SWOSU
*Special shoutout to Meyer who would’ve won in just about any other week: .563/.632/1.250, 3 HR, 9 RBI, 2 2B, 3 BB, 8 R
Pitcher of the Week
Jett Millsap, Randall University
It is a new era at Randall as Joe Adair has taken over as head coach. In their first week of play in 2026, the Saints went 4-1 with a DH sweep over Southwestern (KS) and a 2-1 series win on the road at Hannibal-La Grange.
Jett Milsap was a huge reason as he went 2-0 on the mound for the Saints with a win in relief and the other a 9 inning, complete game shut out at HLC.
For the week
- G 2/GS 1, 2-0, CG, SO, 0.00 ERA, 10 IP, 9 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 9 K
Other nominees:
– Mozart Duarte, Southwestern Christian University
– Adam Hinojosa, OK Panhandle State
– Trey Barkman, NWOSU
– Kaegan Baker, SWOSU
Junior College
Player of the Week
Chris Valenzuela (1B), Western Oklahoma State College
The Pioneers started their season with a 4 game sweep of Colby CC and Valenzuela was a huge reason why. The redshirt sophomore brought not just the average, but the power leading the Pioneers.
- .643/.667/1.286, 3 HR, 6 RBI, BB, 8 R, 2 SB (2 att)
Other nominees:
– Alex Everett, Redlands CC
– Jacob Bennett, NOC Tonkawa
– Janwill Gutierrez, Carl Albert State College
Pitcher of the Week
Jeylem Sepulveda, Western Oklahoma State College
Several of the teams at the JUCO level opted to ease their pitchers in their first starts/appearances as several did not pitch more than a few innings. It was Sepulveda who’s appearance was just a notch better than the others.
Sepulveda is a 2 way player at Western who batted .500 last week, but it was his performance on the mound that earned him the honor.
- G 1/GS 1, 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 4 IP, 0 H, 2 BB, 9 K
Other nominees:
– Cole Webb, Redlands CC
– Austin White, NOC Tonkawa
Official Sooner State Baseball Report Merch
Like this content? Don’t miss any posts. Enter your email in the box below and have Sooner State Baseball Report content delivered right to your inbox.
Sooner State Baseball Report 
Leave a comment