East Central Community College’s baseball squad improved to 31-9 following a doubleheader sweep of Mississippi Delta Community College Saturday afternoon in a non-division battle held at the Clark/Gay Baseball Complex on the Decatur campus. 

Several Diamond Warriors had multiple hits in an 11-6 victory in the opener, and the EC offense kept rolling in the second contest in a 14-1 blowout. The EC pitching staff allowed just two hits in shutting down the Trojan offense to complete the sweep.

Donnie Tabb was one of the top sluggers in the first contest, as the Neshoba Central product collected three doubles, a single and knocked in a run. Also having productive outings at the plate were Jerrod Myers, a product of St. Andrews Episcopal School in Jackson, double and two singles; Ernie Triplett of Louisville, home run, single and four RBIs; Vincent Kortbawi, a product of Hale County High School in Moundville, Ala., two doubles and five RBIs; Richie Long of Carthage, double, single and an RBI ; Ricardo Velez of Trujillo Alto, Puerto  Rico, two singles; and Quin Stokes of Carthage, single.

Right-hander Cal Cossich of Ocean Springs was the winning pitcher. Cossich hurled 2 2/3 scoreless innings in relief and allowed just one hit. He also fanned two batters and walked three. Starter Willard Bacon, a southpaw from Choctaw Central, pitched 3 2/3 innings, allowing five runs on nine hits. He fanned one batter and walked two. Right-hander Tyler Dalton of Winston Academy hurled 2/3 inning and fanned one batter, and right-hander Joel McKee of Neshoba Central hurled the final two innings and allowed one run on one hit.

In the second contest, Darmaal Moore of Stone County collected a double, two singles and three RBIs, and Stokes belted a home run to lead the EC offense in the easy victory, which was called after five innings due to the 10-run rule. Other EC hitters included Tabb, double, single and an RBI; Blake Lawson of Biloxi, two singles and an RBI; Triplett, two singles and two RBIs; Long, double and three RBIs; Andre Yates of Grenada, single and RBI; and Hill and Myers, singles each. 

Starter Austin Buchanan got the win by hurling three scoreless innings and allowing no hits. The southpaw from Neshoba Central also fanned five batters and walked three. Triplett, also a lefty, hurled one inning and fanned three batters. Southpaw Bobby Bryan, a product of Crossett (Ark.) High School, pitched the final inning. Bryan allowed one run on two hits and fanned two batters. 

The Diamond Warriors, who are currently tied with Hinds for first place in the MACJC South Division with an 11-5 record, return to league play Wednesday, April 21 by battling Southwest Mississippi Community College. Doubleheader action begins at 3 p.m. on the Summit campus.

ECCC hosts Pearl River Community College Saturday, April 24, in a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. at the Clark/Gay Baseball Complex.

The Diamond Warriors are lead by head coach Neal Holliman and assistants Michael Avalon and Hunter Vick.