1995

East Central starts season by From Staff Reports

team. I am especially pleased with the new players and feel all of our recruiting needs were met," he said. This year's squad features 14 returnees from the '94 club which pos ted a 28-20 overall mark. The pitching staff had to be r ebuilt, though. All-South Division hurlers S cotty Dumas and reliever David Cox are at William Carey College. Also, Tommy Holland and J amie Morrow have moved on. Enterprise na t ive Jas on Wilkins is the top -r e turning starter. Wilkens, who went 5-4 last season, struck out 19 in one game last season. Todd Reeves. t h e oth e r sophomore pitcher , is sla ted to be a middle reliever. Although he h as only two returnee~ on the mound, Clark said he expects. a ..big boost" from his freshman pit chmg .::taff ·which he describ e~ as could challenge for the shor t– stop p osit ion, meaning John may move to third. Clark said Raymon d Johnson of Phila delphia is expected to r e turn a t third base after mis s ing mos t of 1994 due to a broken jaw suf– fered in the Itawamba series. Three are vying to wear the "tools of ignorance" for East Central , including Will McLeod of Louis ville , Mike Hammack of ,Brus ly, Louisiana, and Chris Bond of Newt on County. Bond batted .313 last season. In the outfield, starting cen· ter fielder Brooks Bryan returns after hitting .325 last season. Clark called Bryan "one of the best outfielders in the league." Dusty Ivey, an All-S ou th Division performer las t season, is expected to s tart in r ight field. Ivey batted .325 and col– lected five home runs. Clark said left field is still "up for grabs" with seven play-

"excellent." Cla rk s aid he's "ve r y pleased" wit h the talent from his infield, an area that "real1y needed depth ." Two fir st baseman retur n fr om last season - Mat t Smith of Sidon and Kev in Nelson of Clinton. Smith, who batted .310, is coming off shoulder sur gery and is still not at full strength. A .269 hitter last year, Nelson will probably move to anoth er position when Smith is healthy. Battling for the starting job a t second base are also two s ophomores, Chris Ezelle of Union and Chad Ardoin o f Hurley_and a transfer from Mary HOlmes . Ezelle batted .269 last season and is expect– ed to be the team's leadoff hit– ter.

Replacemen t players may hear the words ~play ball., in major league parks. but the sounds of the national pastime will be heard by East Centr al Community College':- best this spring. The Warrior.:. had two games scheduled Friday, bu t thev were rained out. ECCC "a: to hol5t Be,•ill and .Jon e:s Countv An 'invitational tournament 1.9 on tap for today and Sunday on t he Decatur campu::- and include.; Bevill, Jones. Wallace Sta te and ECCC in the two– day competition Warrior head coach Jamie Cl a rk, in his ei~hth ea... on. aid he e>.-pects another , uc– ce-,.ful campaign from hE tal– ent-laden team. "Even thou2"h ~ e lo"'i. - e\ er– n! key pla:;ers due to gradua– t ion, I feel we have an out– tanding 2TOup of ,ophomore5 an d fr e , hmen on thi~ year·.:,

Returning at s h or tstop is Ricky John of Neshoba Central who hit .300 ·with three home r uns last year . John will prob– ably bat ~econd in this season's hosting tourney this weekend

East Mississippi BasebaH Schedule at Gu t Cent (2

East Central Baseball Schedule Bevill,

• p.m. 30 p m. 3 p.rn. ., p.m 2 t>m. 1 p.m. 2pm pm. c::-m 1 pm 3pm. 3p.ITI. p.m. 6p.m. 3PI!I. 4pl!l. 2p.m. 2p..m. 7 p.m. 4pm. 2 pm 6p.m. 2p.m. 3p.m. 3 p.m. noon 2pm. Spm. noon

Feb. 17 ~. 17 Feb.tll Feb. 19 Feb. 22 Feb. 28 Marc~ 3 March 4 Morell 1 MarCh !I Mlreh II March t6 March 17 March18 March22 MarCI\24 MMCI\25 Mare'l27 Mar.:l126 March31

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Jot"les

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CA' :-.; :- lineup. Freshman Carey ' -- Lambert of Gonz a les , La., ~ ::'

er s bat tling fo r the starting position. ·~