2004

WEEK OF (Y\® lo ]

ECCC shooting for state playoff berth this season

Holleyofphiladelphiaare competing for the starting rotation on the mound. ' Regarding top freshmen, YarboroughsaidJonathan Booker (Philadelphia) and Lucas Poole (New– ton) 'are also competing 1 for the starting rotation," and Marcus Davi s (Magee) has been "very impressive swinging the bat." He added Mario Thomas (Forest) and Brandon Ezell (Newton . County) should see"lot of playing time" inthemiddle infield. Yarborough said his team is ready to begin the "real" season, espe-. cially after completing a successful fall campaign. "We finished 5-2-1 in the fall, and several players posted outstanding stats. Michael Dunn hit .457 with two home runs and seven doubles; Jacob Townsend (N eshoba Central) hit .441 with one

behind the plate. Our pitching staff consistsof six sophomores and· seven freshmen. Our key to suc– cess lies with defense and pitching." Top offensive returnees and their respective bat– ting averages from 2003 include Drew Kenna of Forest, .392: Dexter Sell– ers ofBastrop, L~ .. .320: and Michael Dunn of Pascagoula, who hit .287 with six home runs and 30 RBis. Destin Moore of Kosciusko collected 24 RBls. (Kenna. team co– captain with pitcher Jim Tally, sustained a broken left ann duringpracticeon January29 and will be out of action for approxi– mately eight weeks.) Tally, a product of Mooreville High School in Saltillo, leads returning pitchers witha 6-2 record. Tally and fellow sopho– mores BrentMcMillan of

DECATUR--Jake Yarborough, now in his third year as ECCC head coach, led the Diamond Waniors to a 21-21 mark last season. They were onegameaway frommak– ing the state playoffs, a goal Yarborough expects his team to reach this year. '"\Ve have several return– ees from last year, includ– ing six starters in the field and two pi~chers. Our sophomores know how tough our schedule is and weexpect them to give us leadership," Yarborough said. • Regarding the team ~.s strengths, Yarborough made the following obser– vation: "I think our team has a strong work ethic and a love for the game. We should be more ath– letic this year. Our out– fielders have goodspeed with ann strength. Weare fundamental in the infield.