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From Harper to Puckett, Grand Junction a JUCO baseball mecca

FILE - April 30, 2010, file photo, College of Southern Nevada baseball player Bryce Harper warms up before a college baseball game in Henderson, Nev. A few years before Bryce Harper was hitting home runs at big league ballparks, the slugger had dreams of bashing baseballs in western Colorado. Getting to Grand Junction, of all places, means you've made it to the JUCO World Series. And for every junior college player, that has been the dream destination since 1959. (AP Photo/Isaac Brekken, File)
FILE - April 30, 2010, file photo, College of Southern Nevada baseball player Bryce Harper warms up before a college baseball game in Henderson, Nev. A few years before Bryce Harper was hitting home runs at big league ballparks, the slugger had dreams of bashing baseballs in western Colorado. Getting to Grand Junction, of all places, means you've made it to the JUCO World Series. And for every junior college player, that has been the dream destination since 1959. (AP Photo/Isaac Brekken, File) FILE - April 30, 2010, file photo, College of Southern Nevada baseball player Bryce Harper warms up before a college baseball game in Henderson, Nev. A few years before Bryce Harper was hitting home runs at big league ballparks, the slugger had dreams of bashing baseballs in western Colorado. Getting to Grand Junction, of all places, means you've made it to the JUCO World Series. And for every junior college player, that has been the dream destination since 1959. (AP Photo/Isaac Brekken, File)

By Associated Press 5 min read

A few years before Bryce Harper was hammering home runs at big league ballparks, the slugger had dreams of bashing baseballs in western Colorado.

Getting to Grand Junction means you’ve made it to the JUCO World Series. And for every junior college player, that has been the dream destination since 1959, with Suplizio Field and its majestic mountain backdrop serving as host.

“When I look back, I can say one of my favorite times I ever had on the baseball field and one of the greatest years of my life was playing JUCO,” Harper says of playing in 2010 for the College of Southern Nevada in the upcoming book, “JUCO’s Journey.”

“And the JUCO World Series,” he added, “was icing on the cake.”

Kirby Puckett played there in 1982 with Triton College, years before he won two World Series with the Minnesota Twins on his way to the Hall of Fame. Long before his bloody sock became the stuff of Red Sox legend, Curt Schilling took the mound for Yavapai College in 1986.