2010

- rU ()

MACJC Tournament Runners-Up East Central Community College's Diamond Warriors are sho\om following their second-place finish in the MACJC State Baseball Tournament held May 13-15 at Smith-Wills Stadium in Jackson. ECCC reached the tournament finals Saturday, but fell ll-7 to the Hinds Eagles who went undefeated in the double-elimination event. ECCC advanced to the championship round by defeating Pearl River 8-7 late Frida~ night. The Warriors fell to Hinds 12-9 in 10 innings earlier Friday and began first-round action by beating Jones 9-3 Thursday night. ECCC advances to the Region 23 Division II Tournament scheduled May 20-22 and hosted by Hinds on the Raymond campus. Also participating in the double-elimination competition are Pearl River and LSU-Eunice. The winner qualifi-es for the NJCAA Division TI World Series May 29-June 5 in Enid, Okla.

ECCCphoto deficit with their own fi ve-run rally in the top of the ninth and held on for the victory as the clock was about to strike midnight Friday. The ninth-inning heroics began when Ricardo Velez "'alked and moved to econd on a single by Darmaal Moore. Richie Long fol– IO\\ed with a walk to load the bases. Quin Stokes hit a sacrifice fly, scoring Velez. Vtncent Kortbawi followed with a two– run triple to right field. Andre Yates then tripled to right field to drive in Kortbawi. Charles Hi ll singled to right field and EC was back

shut down the Bobcat oflcnse in thl! bottom of the ninth and was credited with the ..., in Mitchell, the third p1tcher of the e' cning tor the Warrior~. hurled 2 1/3 innings and allo\\cd no hits. Ernie friplett was the starter and allowed one earned run on three hits through 2 1/3 innings. He fanned one anJ walked four. Tyler Dalton pitched 4 1/3 innings in middle relief and allowed one earned run on two hits. He fanned fhe and walked one. Long contributed a single in addition to his three-run homer. Also credited with

two hits each were Yates, Lawson, and Moore. Hinds 12 ECCC 9 ECCC led 6-1 after four innings. but the Eagles ral– lied for a 7-6 advantage m the seventh inning of Friday's winners' bracket contest. The Warriors responded with two runs in the bottom of the frame and held a 9-8 advantage going into the ninth when Hinds scored a run resulting in extra innings. Hinds scored three runs in the top of the IOth and held on for the victory. Donnie Tabb had a double

and a l>tngle and Richte Long, Qum Stokes. and Charles Hill contnbutcd two smgles each to lead the EC offense. Vincent Kortba'" 1collect– ed a double, and Andre Yates. Ricardo Velez. and Blake Lawson had smgles each. Velez was also crcdtted with two RBI. Colby Mitchell took the loss, allov .. ing three earned runs on four· hits. He fanned two and walked one ECCC 8 Pearl River 7 The Warnors, who held a 3-0 lead until the Wildcats ral– lied for five nms in the sev– ~enth innmg, overcame a 6-3