Twelve years ago, I was in Kissimmee with the then Okaloosa-Walton Community College baseball team as the Raiders played in the Florida College System Activities Association state tournament.
At the time, I covered the Raider baseball beat for the Northwest Florida Daily News.
The Raiders finished second in the tournament that year. Former Crestview High School shortstop Jameson Parker anchored OWCC's infield. And Nate Moore, a Laurel Hill graduate, was the team's closer, using a nasty slider to frustrate many batters.
In the last dozen or so years, several local players have made their way to Niceville to play for the Raiders, and have had various degrees of success.
Baker sent Drew Griffith and Bucky Locke to the college. Crestview's Anthony Brown, Trey Hayes and David Pyle have suited up for the Raiders. There might even be a few other locals who played at the college in the past few years who have slipped my mind.
The pipeline from the Hub City to Niceville returned this year, when former Bulldog standout Dakota Dean joined NWF State's team.
Dean proved his worth to the Raiders, batting in the third spot throughout the season and earning All-Panhandle Conference honors.
Last week, Dean and the Raiders brought home the first FCSAA baseball championship in school history. NWF State heads to Grand Junction, Colo., later this month for the Junior College World Series.
If Dean and the Raiders win the championship, he’ll match older brother Blake’s national title at Louisiana State.
It is more than a 1,600-mile drive from Crestview to Grand Junction. The distance is about 1,300 miles as the crow flies.
The Florida boys can expect a big drop in temperatures while in Colorado. Recently, Grand Junction was 53 degrees Fahrenheit when it was 92 degrees in Okaloosa County.
Sam Suplizio Field, where the Junior College World Series is played, has a short porch in left field that is just 302 feet from home plate. The park's deepest part is 410 feet.
I doubt Dakota Dean and his Raider teammates are thinking about the distance they will travel or the weather in Colorado. For now, they are simply young men on a magical run trying to cap the season with the school’s first national championship in baseball.
Whether the Raiders win or lose in Grand Junction, they’ve had a great run.
I’ll be cheering NWF State on from a distance, hoping young Mr. Dean has a series he’ll remember for years to come.
Email News Bulletin Sports Editor Randy Dickson, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: DICKSON: A special time for Dean and the Raiders