Two victories over Hinds Community College Saturday afternoon might have been too much to ask of East Central Community College’s Diamond Warriors who were seeking the program’s second MACJC State Baseball Championship in the last four years under head coach Neal Holliman.
The men in Black and Gold reached the tournament finals by rallying for five runs in the top of the ninth inning to edge Pearl River 8-7 in a five-hour duel that concluded a few minutes before midnight Friday. The Diamond Warriors had earlier lost a gut-wrenching 12-9 decision to Hinds in a 10-inning affair, during which EC led 6-1 after four innings. EC called on 10 pitchers for the back-to-back contests.
But the Diamond Warriors showed no signs of fatigue against the Eagles in another five-hour contest, which featured several rain delays totaling almost 90 minutes. However, missed scoring opportunities and several homers by the Hinds offense resulted in an 11-7 loss for EC and concluded the three-day competition held on a wet field at Smith-Wills Stadium in 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 tournament,” said Holliman, whose squad began the double-elimination event by defeating top-seeded Jones County 9-3 Thursday night.
“We missed too many scoring opportunities against Hinds,” said Holliman, referring 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 20-22 and hosted by top-seeded Hinds (30-19) at Joe G. Moss Field on the Raymond campus.
“Our ultimate goal continues to be to win the Region tournament and advance to the Junior College World Series,” said Holliman. The NJCAA Division II World Series is scheduled May 29 - June 5 in Enid, Okla.
East Central (38-17) enters regional competition as the No. 2 seed and Louisiana State University at Eunice (43-11) is seeded third. Pearl River (26-27) is the No. 4 seed.
HINDS 11, ECCC 7
Hinds led throughout the title game but only held a slim 4-3 margin going into the fifth inning, when the Eagles sent four runs across the plate. The key hit during the frame was a three-run homer by Justin Brodnax.
East Central, which scored single runs in the second, third, fourth and fifth innings, added a pair of runs in the seventh inning to cut the deficit to 10-6 but could only muster another run in the ninth.
Ricardo Velez of Trujillo, Puerto Rico, belted a double and single and Quin Stokes of Carthage had two singles to lead the EC offense. Each was also credited with two RBIs. Charles Hill and Richie Long, both of Carthage, and Blake Lawson of Biloxi each had doubles. Donnie Tabb of Neshoba Central and Andre Yates of Grenada contributed singles each. Yates and Vincent Kortbawi, a product of Hale County High School in Moundville, Ala., also knocked in a run a piece.
Starter Allen Johnson took the loss for EC on the mound, allowing four earned runs on six hits through 4 2/3 innings. He fanned one batter and walked two.
ECCC 8, PEARL RIVER 7
The Diamond Warriors, who held a 3-0 lead until the Wildcats rallied for five runs in the seventh inning, overcame a 6-3 deficit with their own five-run rally in the top of the ninth inning and held on for the one-run victory as the clock was about to strike midnight.
The ninth-inning heroics began when Velez walked and was later moved to second on a single by Darmaal Moore of Stone County. Long followed with a walk and loaded the bases. Stokes hit a sacrifice fly to left field, scoring Velez. Kortbawi followed with a triple to right field, scoring Moore and Long. Yates then tripled to right field and Kortbawi scored. Hill sent Yates home with a single to right field and EC was back on top at 8-6.
Pearl River added a run in the final frame and had a runner on third base when the game ended on an infield groundout.
Stokes belted a two-run homer in the sixth inning and finished with three RBIs to lead the EC offense. In addition to triples recorded by Kortbawi and Yates, singles were contributed by Moore, Hill and Lawson. Kortbawi was also credited with two RBIs. Long, Yates and Hill also knocked in a run each.
Long was the winning pitcher in relief, allowing one earned run on two hits during an inning of work. He fanned one batter.
Johnson got the save by pitching a scoreless ninth inning.
HINDS 12, ECCC 9
East Central led 6-1 after four innings but the Eagles rallied for a 7-6 advantage in the seventh inning. The Diamond 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 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 credited with two RBIs. Tabb, Yates, Long and Hill knocked in a run apiece.
Southpaw Colby Mitchell of Lake took the loss, allowing three earned runs on four hits. He fanned two batters and walked one.
ECCC 9, JONES COUNTY 3
A six-run, ninth-inning rally capped off by Long’s three-run home run helped lead the Diamond Warriors to a 9-3 victory over top-seed Jones County in first-round tournament action.
After trailing 3-0 through five innings, Stokes belted a double to centerfield, scoring Yates and Long, who each reached base with singles. Hill slapped a run-scoring single that brought pinch-runner Kevin Harris of Newton home from third to tie the score at 3-3.
Lawson later set the stage for the upset victory with a single and Jerrod Myers of Jackson St. Andrews followed with a walk. Moore reached base on an infield hit, sending Lawson to third and Myers to second. Tabb followed with a grounder to the infield but a throwing error to first base allowed all three EC base runners to score.
Yates then came to bat and was hit by a pitch and Long followed with his 13th homer of the season, a three-run shot over the right-field wall.
Mitchell shut down the Bobcat offense in the bottom of the ninth and was credited with the win. Mitchell allowed no hits through 2 1/3 innings in relief. He fanned one batter.
Ernie Triplett of Louisville was the starter and allowed one earned run on three hits through 2 1/3 innings. He fanned one batter and walked four. Tyler Dalton of Winston Academy pitched 4 1/3 innings in middle relief and allowed on earned run on two hits. The right-hander also fanned five batters and walked one.
Long contributed a single in addition to his home run. Also credited with two hits each were Yates, Lawson and Moore.