2007

ECCC Diamond ECCC-Chris Parkman of

description ofthe 2007 state baseball champions: "This team has the higgest heart of any team I e\ er been associated with ... and they ne'er gtve up. no matter the circumstances. no matter how big a deficit to overcome." East Central was the only team to go undefeated m the double– elimination event and twice defeated Gulf Coast and ctghth-ranked Meridian Community College to capture the championship. The Diamond Warriors rallied to defeat MCC 11-JOearlierSundaybyscming eight runs in the top of the ninth and holding on for the one-run victory. Ea~t Central began tournament action bY. clippmg GulfCoast 3-2 Thursday ntght and rallied to beat MCC 9-3 Saturday. scoring all mne runs in the etghth inning after MCC had led 3-0. The match-up with GulfCoast for the state title was mostly a pitcher's duel until the top of the fifth \\hen Parkman tnpled. bringing home speedster Josh Lafferty of Quitman for a 1-0 lead. Colby Hawthorn of McNeil was sent in as a pitch-runner for Parkman and later scored on an infield hit by Terrell Hendrix, a product ofEast Oktibbeha County HS in Starkville. Holliman stated that if an MVP for the tournament was selected, he believed that Hendrix would be chosen unanimously. "Terrell is an unbelievable story and has been one of the most coachable players I have had the opportunity to coach. He will only continue to improve as well as this team because of character and work eth1c. Neshoba Central product Adam Griffin gave EC a 3-0 lead in the sixth \yhen he scored following an infield error off a hard shot by Jacob Thames of Mendenhall and a former Magee Htgh School standout. Gulf Coast scored two runs in the bottom of the sixth on a double by Blame Ivy with the bases loaded. The Bulldogs tted the contest at 3-3 on an mfield error tn the bottom of the eighth. Parkman gave EC the lead for ~Md \Vith hi!: ninth innin~ homer

Pulaski picked the perfect time to hit his first home run as a member ofthe East Central Community College baseball team. The 5-11. 200-pound catcher and University of West Alabama transfer sent a towering solo shot over the left field fence to give the Diamond Warriors a 4-3 lead in the top of the ninth inning. EC added an msurance run later in the inning and held on for a 5-3 decision over number- two ranked Mississippi GulfCoast Community College for the MACJC State \ Baseball Championship held on the Perkinston campus. The nine-inning match-up was delayed about 30 mmutes due to rain in the top of the sixth with EC owning a 3-0 lead, and concluded about 12:20 a.m. with the possible winning run at the plate for Gulf Coa-;t. Joe Patterson ofMorton-who shared pitching duties with Daniel Carela of New York - got Jeremy Davis to pop up to right-fielder George Washington ofDemopolis to end the threat.: East Central improved to 31- 21 following the victory and Gulf Coast dropped to 38-11. East Central IS led by first-year head coach Neal Tlolliman, who was a first-year assistant to the late Jamie Clark when the Diamond Warriors won the state title in 1998. Following the win, Coach Holliman gave all the credit "to God and a great bunch of kids.·· "There's no doubt that God has blessed this team in so many ways. and that His hand was on our team and coaching staff." said Holliman. ··our guys never give up. as evidenced by the big comebacks against Meridian and the close wins with GulfCoast. We told our guys in the beginning that if they do things our way -which may not necessarily be the best way for some teams but it will be the best way for this team if they all totally belie" e in it together– that they will succeed. and they did, exactly that." Pitching staffmember Jesus Aleman of Bell Glade, Fla., and a Cuba native. probabl ga~ ... an !"Vert better