1989

East Central dumps Clarke T·earris set wi nning marks By Marty Stamper SJ.!ecial to The Star season and, after two hours and 10 minutes of competition, that honor would belong to the Warriors.

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DECATUR - Wednesday afternoon's junior college baseball game between Clarke College and East Central had no playoff meaning whatsoever, but it sure meant a lot to those involved. East Central scored three runs during the first two innings and added four more in the fifth en route to a 7-3 win. Both teams had their winningest-ever years in 1989. Clarke concluded its season at 23-23, while East Central finished 2G-19. At one point Clarke was 20-6 after winning only four games last year. East Central fans only have to go back to 1987 to find a 3-29 finish. Both teams had several sophomores who were playing their final game for their respec– tive schools and for some, their final game period. "We don't usually have a team meeting before a game,'' ECCC coach Jamie Clark said, "but to– day we talked about cutting down our strikeouts and to try to make contact. It paid off. "It was a big game with our (Newton) county rival. It was two teams giving everything they had. It wasn't a typical ;eason-ending game. " That was because only one earn could finish with a wmning

ECCC sophomore left-bander Corey Taylor (6-5) saw to that. He held the Panthers to seven hits, none for extra bases. Taylor did not allow a hit over the first four innings as the Warriors took a 3-llead. " It was a typical Corey Taylor game,'' Clark said. ''He got ahead of the batters and threw strikes and changed speeds." "Corey Taylor did a real good job," Clarke coach Steve Ren– frow added. "He kept us off stride. "We've had a good year. You always like to go out with a win, but it wasn't in the books." ECCC bunched its 11 hits quite effectively, getting four in both the first and fifth innings and three in the second. Kevin Cochran, Keith McGee, Rusty Cramer, and Donald Culberson singled in the first inn– ing to give the hosts a 2-1 lead. Joey Boykin doubled in McGee in the second to extend the edge to 3-1. The Warriors got all the in– surance runs they needed with a four-run fifth. Cramer led off with a single, while Boykin followed with his second double of the game. Awalk to Culberson loaded the bases. Ken Williams

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Clarke's Keith Hawsey (17) slides into East Central's Scott drove in a pair of runs and chas– ed Clarke starter CliffWebb (3-1) with a double to left-center field. Scott Allen added an RBI single, while Eric Davis' com– ebacker to reliever Charles Tilden enabled Williams to score · the final run. Tilden slammed the door after that, retiring the final 11 War– riors in order. Clarke, which had beaten ECCC in three previous games, answered with single runs in the sixth and eighth innings. Singles by Hal Sherman, Mike Cole, and