2010

WEEKOF'{l~ I 7 J..C 10 J ECCC Diamond Warriors Capt re State Runne -Up Title Two '1ctories OHr

had earlier lost a gut-\nench– ing 12-9 decision to Hinds in a 10-inning affair. dunng which EC led 6-1 after four 1noings. EC called on I() pitch– ers for the back-to-back con– tests. But the D1amond Warriors showed no signs of fatigue against the Eagles in another five-hour contest, which featured several rain delays totaling almost 90 min– utes, However, missed scor– ing opportunities and several homers by the Hinds offense resulted in an 11-7 loss for EC and concluded the three-day competitio~ held on a wet field at Smith- Wills Stadium m Jackson. "It's (runner-up title) not what we wanted or what the players wanted... but we are still appreciative of the success we had in the tour– nament," said Holliman, whose squacl began the double-elimination event by defeating top-seeded Jones County 9-3 Thursday night. "We missed too many scor– ing opportunities against Hinds," said Holliman, refer– ring to the 18 runners left on base and 12 walks allowed by Eagle hurlers. "But I'm really proud of the effort put forth by our guys." Holliman, who led the 2007 squad to a state title in his first year at the helm. is now focused on getting his team ready for the Region 23 Tournament scheduled May 2,•-22 and hosted by top– seeded Hinds (30-19) at Joe G. Moss Field on the

East Central (38-17) enters re– gional competition as the No. 2 seed and Louisiana State UnhersJty at Eunice (43-ll} is seeded third. Pearl River (26-27) is the No.4 seed. Hinds led through– out the t1tk game but only held a slim 4-3 margin goinp. into the fifth inning, when the Eagles Sl~nt four runs across the plate. The key hit during the frame was a three-run homer by Justin Brodnax. Eao;t Central. which scored single runs in the sec– ond, third, fourth and fifth in– nings, added a pa1r of runs in the seventh innmg to cut the de:fictt to l 0·6 but could only muster another run m the ninth. Ricardo Velez of Trujillo, Puerto R1co, belted a double and smglc and Quin Stokes ot Carthage had two singles to lead the EC offense. Each was also credited with two RDis. Charles Hill and Richie Long, both of Canhage, and Dlakc Lawson of Biloxi each had doubles. Donnie Tabb of Neshoba Central and Andre Yates of HINDS II, ECCC 7

batter.

Hind~ Commun1ty College Saturday afternoon might ha\"e been too much to ask of East Central Comrnuntty College's Diamond Warr1ors ~ho ~ere 'iee mg t he program's second MACJC tate Baseball Cbarnpion~h1p in the last four } ear_ under head coach eal Hollunan. The men m Black and Gold reached the tournament fmals b) rallymg for five runs in the top of the mnth inning to ed_e Pearl Rn er 8-7 in a the-hour duel that concluded a fC\\ mmutes before midnight fnda;}. The Diamond Warriors

Johnson got th save b) pitching a scorcles ninth inning.

HINDS 12, ECCC 9

East Ct~ntral led 6-l after four innmgs but the Eagles rallied for a 7-6 ad\an– tage in the seventh inning The Diamond Warriors re– sponded with tv,ro runs in the bottom of the frame and held a 9-8 advantage going mto the ninth when Hinds scored n run resulting in extra innings Hinds scored lhree runs in the top of the tenth and held on for the victory. Tabb had a double and single. and Long, Stokes and Hill contributed two singles each to lead the EC offense. Kortbawi collected a double, and Yates. Velez and Lawson had singles each Velez was also crc:ditcd with two RBis. Tabb, Yates, Lono and Hill knocked in a run apiece. · Southpaw Colby Mitchell ofLake took the loss, allowing three earned runs on four hits. He fanned two bat– ters and walked one.

Grenada contributed singles ECCC9,JONESCOUNTY 3 each. Yates and Vincent A six-run. ninth·in– Kortbawi, a product of Hale mng rally capped off by County High Scl1ool in Long's three-run home run Moundville, Ala., also helped lead the Dmmond knocked in a run a piece. Warriors to a 9-3 \ ictory OH:r Starter Allen Johnson took: top-seed Jones County m the loss for EC on the mound, first-round tournament ac- allO\\ing four earned runs It> . SL"t hitS through 4 213 mnm!

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JBA DEMOCRAT --- - -- r COUNTY TIMES _____

CARTHAGINIAN _

He fanned one batter

d

walked two.

NEWTON COUNTY Raymond campus. SPIRIT OF MORTON __ _:!:.V_ ___ MERIDIAN STAR _ _____

WINSTON COUNTY JOURNAL__

CLARION-LEDGER _ _____