J.J. Robinson named MVP for series

J.J. Robinson of Colfax checks out the seventh inning triple he hit Friday night at Harris Field to nail a lead for the LCSC Warriors on their way to a 19th NAIA national title.

Former Colfax Bulldog J.J. Robinson was named MVP for the NAIA World Series Friday night after the Lewis-Clark Warriors defeated Faulkner in the championship game. Robinson rapped an RBI triple in the seventh inning of the title game to push the Warriors into the lead against the title opponent from Montgomery, Ala.

Robinson finished with a .381 average for the series and had seven RBIs in the campaign.

The series finale at Lewiston was played before 4,390 fans at Harris Field. It was the 19th win of the series for the Warriors who finished with a 40-14 season record, according to the game report by Matt Baney in the Lewiston Tribune.

Robinson joined the Warriors program two years ago as a junior after playing college ball at Washington State University and Walla Walla Community College.

His brother, Danny Robinson, led the Bulldogs to the state 2B title as a senior pitcher and has signed to play at Walla Walla Community College next year. He has received scholarship awards to start his career at Walla Walla.

Danny Robinson will play at Walla Walla under Dave Meliah, who also coached brother J.J. during his stop at Walla Walla.

During his two years with the Lewiston team, J.J. Robinson was twice named player of the year for the west side of the NAIA, and the family is waiting to see if he will be named all-NAIA player for the year.

J.J.Robinson, who earned a degree in criminal science at LCSC, was able to attend the Colfax commencement Saturday and hear his brother Danny give his valedictorian address.

Their father, Jeff Robinson, noted this marked a big baseball year for the family with J.J. Robinson winning all west player honors for the second year, and Danny Robinson named NE league MVP for the second year.

The Robinsons moved to Colfax when J.J. was in the third grade. One of their first Colfax baseball experiences was a trip for Yakima to see coach Mike Parrish and the Bulldogs win a second consecutive state title in the WIAA A division in 2003.

J.J. made the normal stops in little league and youth baseball at Colfax and at one point rolled up four no-hitters.

When he arrived at Lewiston two years ago, he played first base because the Warriors needed his bat more than his pitching skills. This season he started at first base, but later took the designated hitter role, a move again made because the Warriors wanted to get more hitters in the lineup.

Looking back, Jeff Robinson said he feels J.J. was destined to play for the famed Warriors at Harris Field in the NAIA finals. He noted the family made annual treks to Lewiston to see the Warriors play in the series. The family camped at Chief Timothy and went to the games at Harris Field.

Jeff noted all those years in the bleachers at Harris Field seemed to automatically make J.J. part of the team.

The next step for J.J. will be to see what happens on the pro draft.

J.J. was actually drafted by the Chicago Cubs after he finished his high school career at DeSales, but his dad said they opted for the college route and an education. When he played at Walla Walla, he was also drafted by the Angels but turned down the call to keep pursuing a college degree.

The baseball credentials J.J. earned at Lewiston could bode well in the draft, but he has undergone three surgeries and that could make major league teams a little hesitant to draft him.

Also, the pros like to draft players at a young age to allow time to develop them in the farm system.

''We'll just have to wait and see what happens," Jeff said. He noted J.J. now has the criminal justice degree so a career opportunity is also on the table.