2002

ing. I know Coach Clark would also be pleased,'' Yarborough said. In recognition of Clark's service to East Central, the College dedicated ''Jamie Clark Memorial Stadium" dunng a ceremony Mon– day, February 18, prior to the Diamond Warriors' first home game of the 2002 campaign. Clark's jersey was retired during the special program. His widow, Audrey Cl ark, threw out the first pitch to officiall y start East Central's double-header with East Mississippi Community College. The Diamond Warriors, who finished 19-27 in 2001 , should be much im– proved this season, ac– cording to their new head coach. "We had a great fall and practice has gone well. Players are a lot stronger this year, as indicated by various strength and con– ditioning tests. We are also a lot quicker. This team has more depth than last year; we are two-deep in every position . I thi nk we ' II provide more run suppo rt for our pitching staff, something we did not do last year. Overall, we should see a big im– provement from 200 !.This team is hungry to win; I can see it in their eyes," Yarborougb satd. Among top returnees this season include outfielder Lewis Bradford, a product of Scott Central High Schoo l; infielder Jos h Chaney ofNewtonCounty High School; and short- stop/outfielder Dee Hornesburger o f Noxapater. Bradford batted .289, hit eight home runs , six doubles and collected 27 RBls. His coach expects

defensive player. He can pla)' s hortstop, second base or the outfield. He's the type guy you want to play in the middle of the defense. Last year hts fiel ding percentage at third base and behind the plate was .936, which ts very high. We're anticipat– ing another solid defen– sive performance from Josh, who will start at ei– ther third base or second base," Yarborough satd. Hornesburger hit .233 with nine doubles. He col– lected 12 RB Is and drew II walks. "Dee had a .951 fielding percentage last year at sec– ond base. He will also be positioned in the middle of the defense this year. He can also play outfield,'' Yarborough said. Adam McCurdy_of Mor– ton is also listed as a top returnee. "Adam is mainly a defen– sive player but we also ex– pect him to produce at the plate. He'll see some u...-.e at first base," Yarborough said. Regarding the pitching staff, Yarborough said he anti cipates another suc– cessful year from Jason Wooten of Lake. the team's top returnmg hurler. Wooten had a 2.44 ERA and posted a 4-3 record with one sa\e. His oppo– nents' batting average was .205. - "Jason is mainly a finesse pitcher. He's gained a little velocity this year, and he can change speeds to get the batte r out.·· Yarborough noted. Another returning ace is Corey Amis, a product of Newt on County High School. Amis was 2-6 in 2001 with a 4.4 ERA. He registered ~n -·-=1~.,... ...... ,.~ ;.,._ ~'l "\nA ") /

nECATUR-For the first time mce the 1988 cam– p~~n. the East Central Commuruty College base– ball team ,~ il' take the field wtth a new leader at the helm. former assistant Jake Yarb-.rough now leads the Diamond Warriors, who \\ere guided by Jam ie Clark for 14 seasons until a bram tumor cut short his hfe last summer. Clark, who died at age 49, amassed a 365-302-l record at East Central. His 1998 Diamond Warriors captured the team's first state title. Although Coach Clark is no longer a part of ECCC baseball , hi s presence will be felt through Yarborough's leadership. "We obviousl y miss Coach Clark very much. Although he is not here, \\ e plan to continue what be established for the East Central baseball program, meac:ng that we basically do thmgs the old-fashioned way. We sui! ~onsider ourselves blue -collar ' workers; nothmg is given to us and \Ve have to work hard for what we get. I often re– mind players how impor– tant it is to out-work our opponents. So we try to in– still the same work ethic as Coach Clark, and will continue to follow hts style of coaching, which obviously proved to be successful," Yarborough said. Coach Clark also expected team members to do \\ell in academics. Yarborough said he intents to continue Clark's expectations for the team on the field and also in the classroom. "Our guys are expected to go to class and to present themselves well as

mance. "Lewis continues to hit the ball well and I look for him to have another big year," Yarborough said. Chaney posted a .289 bat– ting average w ith four triples, four doubles and 13 RBls. He also walked 13 times. • ;•Josh. is an. outstanding just baseball players. Coach Clark stressed the importance of making good grades and made it a point to recognized play– ers who achieved at least a 3.0 grade point average. Speaking of grades, I'm especially pleased that the team has an overall 2.9 .GP A., uhich .is outstand-

3 innings. His opponents· batting a' erage was just .201. ··core) is basically a power pitcher; he's got velocity and a real good breaking ball. He has also developed an effective change-up. In addition, he is a lot bigger and stron- Continued on page 16

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