2005

WEEK OF Mo."/ \{p, :;)005

BASEBALL East Central, Co-Lin, ltawamba

But the Indians' unsung offensive hero has been ClayDozier, aDeltaStatesignee. Dozier is hitting .416with an on-base per– centage of .505, plus 21 doubles and 48 RBis. Both ICC (Jared Koon, Matt McKissick) and Co-Lin~(Ryan Belanger, Derek Thompson) apJ)ear to have the pitching needed for a good postseason run. Butonlyone will get outoftheirsuper regional to reach the D-ll CWS (May 28- June 3 at Millington, Tenn). They didn't meet duringthe regular season.

st Central Community College, hich won the NJCAA Region 23 ivision I championship, got a lift, both physical and emotional, from the return of John Fortenberry to the squad Fortenberry is the pitcher whose face was crushed by a line drive during an intrasquadgame in January 2004. Fortenberry, who lost his right eye as a thisseason.

ON BASEBALL

other primary starters, and Kevin Hatch (4-1, 8 saves, 1.30ERA) closes. "Our pitching and defense were pretty good allyear,"Yarborougbsaid. "Our hittingwas just OK,

but we started putting it result of the injury, returned this season, all together at the right time ofyear." wearing a protective mask, and went 2-4 MarcusDavis, who has 10homers, Ross withasub-4.00ERAfortheWarriors,29-21. Pine and Corey Coward were ECCC's top ECCC opens super regional play today hitters. Davis hit three homers in adoublehead- Oklahoma at 1 p.m. and Maple Woods ersweepofHindsonthelastdayofthereg- at Fort Smith, Ark., playing Northeast

M·Bits

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The race is on, more or less, to see (Mo.) at 4. It's a three-team, double-elimi- ular season that put the Warriors in the which former Mississippi Brave will be nation tournament that will send its win- region tourneyand kept theirseasonalive. the first to advance to the major league ner to the juco D-I World Series (May 28- D 't f t club. June 4atGrand Junction, Colo). On orge ••• Left-bander Casey DeHart became the "'t was great to have John back," said Juco Region 23 D-ll region champs fourth player to be promoted from theM- EastCentral coach JakeYarborough. "He's Itawamba and Copiah-Lincoln opened Braves' roster toTriple-ARichmondwhen adjusted well. He still throws three good play Thursday in a super regional at St. he got the call onTuesday. pitches - fastball, split finger and curve. Catherine, Ky. DeHartjoins outiield~r Derrick Gibson He made a lot of good starts for us; he just SluggersAndyRice andKyle Mills, who and pitchers Macay McBride and Zach got abunchofno-decisions." signed with Mississippi State and Ole Miner in Richmond. The Warriors' ace is lefty Josh Miller Miss, respectively, have gotten most of the McBride, a 22-year-old lefty, is on the (11-2). FortenberryandCodySavol:.::ar:..:e ..:th:.::e::.......:a:.:tt=e=nti='o::n:..:a::t.:...N:..::o. ....:. 1::1:..:I.=C.=C:....______ 4,;.;0-;..;man.;.;;;.;;;:..:ro~st=er:.:.., so:.: he might have the clear- chasinQ national bids

est path toAtlanta. AsofThursday, hewas 1-0 with a 3.18 ERA for the R-Braves. McBridewas afirst-roundpickin 2001and had a3.09ERA in theminors enteringthis season. Miner, 23, a right-hander, was a fourth– round pick in 2000. Hewas2-1 with a5.19 at Richmond after a rough outingonMon– day. DeHart and Gibson are older players signed as minor-league free agents this year. Gibson has some big-league experi–

coach Jim Page liked his team's chances goinginto the NCAA Division ill regional that began Thursday. One reason: During one of the Majors' five intrasquad games last week, a brawl nearly broke out. "Everybodywas excitedabout that," Page said. "'t showed we still had some fight in us." ... Texas Rangers pitcher Ryan Bukvich, the former Ole Miss, Delta State and Northwest Rankin standout, was scheduled for arm surgery today that will end his 2005 season. Bukvicb, acquired by the Rangers on waivers from San Diego in February, had an 11.25 ERA in four appearances. Bukvich pitched for Kansas City in2004....There's a larger purpose to Oil Can Boyd's comeback at age 45 in the OCRAT independent Can-Am League. Sportsmu~ trated reported recently that the colorful tRD Meridian native plans to launch a barn-

APPEARED If\ ence withColorado in 1998-99. Keep in mind that the Braves could just as easily promote a player from the Dou– LAKE MESSE ble-A club. Reliever Jorge Vasquez, for

instance, is also on the 40-man, has big– league experience and has a 1.86 ERA in 13games....

SCOTTCOUN UNION APPEJ

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After a 2-4 homestand that ended with four straight losses, the M-Braves start a WINSTON CO seven-game road trip today. They play three at Jacksonville and four at Chat– SPIRIT OF MC tanooga. Mississippi is 11-12 on the road, 5-12 atTrustmarkPark. tMPACT Touchingthebases Despite a 3lh-week layoff, Millsaps

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storming team of ex-big leaguers next ~ year.... The MPSA (private school) All- ------ --- Star Games are scheduled for next Thurs- • dayatTtustmarkParkinPearl. It'sthe first JER _ _..;..._ _____

norf-M-Braves event scheduled at the new ballpark by Tim Bennett of Overtime Sports, which has a management contract at the facility.