1998

Diamond Warriors S eep Southwest A double-header sweep of conference foe Southwest has moved East Central's Diamond Warriors to withm one game of league-leading Gulf Coast. the eli n .catchup. Freshman BrOCJe MeaaO\\S of Brandon ga"-e EC the lead for good when hJ.s ru~nm homer also :;...--o:ed .:-ho:na.~ Jay Md...aldcn Bel.zani who

Gressett fanned seven, walked one and allowed seven hits. Southwest carried a first– inning 1-0 lead to the fourth when sophomore slugger Greg Wood of Decatur tied the contest with his 12th homer of the season and 21st round– tripper as a Diamond Warrior. Wood, a product of Newton County High School, set a school record for homers earlier against Hinds when he collected his 20th clinger. The division battle remained tied through the seventh and went into extra innings, when Matthews broke the deadlock with his lead-off homer in the eighth. Freshman Chad Champion of Holt,

East Central, which claimed 7-1 and 4-1 victories over the host Bears Saturday afternoon, improved to 19-15 overall and 8-4 in South Division play. Freshman hurler Jason Willis of Philadelphia went the distance in game one, improving his record to 5-2. Willis fanned seven, walked two and allowed just four hits in the 7-1 victory. After a Southwest homer gave the Bears a 1-0 lead, East Central rallied for three runs in the sixth and took control of

earlier :>Jl"tg!ed \\ illis later smgled a!'..d srored m the mrung. East C-entrzl _-a.:.:.ed tis lead in the se\entn ~sophomore Eric \\"eaver at • ewton tal11ed oo a sin::_- e _ SO";'homo:e Ron Perkins of l...c-~ ~e followed by MeadCM_ base-.-loaded triple which .scmed Perkins, McLendon and Thctin Matthews of 1 n.'"Oe Sophomore Da..'l Gre-.~tt of Lake got the wm m game two, impro\ing his recn:d 6-1 In claiminc the ~ QectSlOl\

later

doubled,

A.labama_

sea:-:£: of ~-t.~e arc joey Allen of jt:ne:oo Ctt) , P.:kansas. East Ce; .-:-al .maJ..o:ained its 4-1 advantat;e be!-u..,d the pitching of so;h.omc:e C'i.ns Tullos who came 1n :relief ior Gressett in the eisht!' a.,d was credited with the ~ave. · East Cen:ral faces another tough week oi action, as the Diamona Warriors travel to Delta on April 7; host Co-lin in makeup games beginning at 3 p.m. Thursday, April 9; and entertam Hinds starting at 1 p.m. Fnday, Apnl 10. East Central journeys to Jones en Tuesday Apnl 14, in competibon that gets underway at 4 p.m in Ellisville. All games are double-headers. .:ficrae! Hall

APPEARED IN:

CARTHAGINIAN.______ _ NESHOBADEMOCRAT~------­ NE~ONRECORD __ ~~---- MERIDIAN STAR.________ _

LAKE MESSENGER.______________ SCOTT COUNTY TIMES._____ UNION APPEAL-------- WINSTON COUNTY JOURNAL.___ CLARION-LEDGER._ ______