East Central Community College’s baseball team took sole possession of second place in the MACJC South Division standings following a doubleheader sweep of Jones County Wednesday, April 7 at the Clark/Gay Baseball Complex in Decatur.

Quin Stokes’ three-run homer helped lead the Diamond Warriors to a 6-4 decision in the opener, and the Carthage High School product  belted a home run and two doubles in the second contest as EC rallied from an early 4-0 deficit to claim a 12-4 victory.

With the pair of wins, East Central improved to 26-8 overall and 8-4 in league play. Hinds leads the division at 9-3 and Pearl River is third with a 7-5 mark. Rounding out the South are Gulf Coast and Jones County, both at 6-6; Southwest, 4-8; and Copiah-Lincoln, 2-10.

In addition to Stokes, a sophomore catcher from Carthage, other sluggers in the opener were Donnie Tabb of Neshoba Central, double and single; Darmaal Moore of Stone County, two singles; Vincent Kortbawi, a product of Hale County High School in Moundville, Ala., double; and Charles Hill and Richie Long, both of Carthage, singles each. Kortbawi was also credited with two RBIs and Ricardo Velez, of Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico, knocked in a run.

Southpaw Pervis Mann of Carthage was the winning pitcher, allowing four runs on four hits through 4 1/3 innings. He also fanned two batters and walked two. Right-hander Tyler Dalton of Winston Academy was credited with the save. He hurled 2 2/3 scoreless innings and allowed just one hit. He also fanned one batter and walked one.

Stokes was among several Diamond Warriors who had successful outings at the plate in the second contest. Tabb and Long also homered, and Tabb added a double and single and had two RBIs. Kortbawi contributed two singles and led in RBIs with three. Moore and Ernie Triplett of Louisville had two singles each. 

Freshman southpaw Colton Mitchell of Lake got the win, allowing four runs on four hits through four innings. He also fanned four batters and walked three. Right-hander Cal Cossich of Ocean Springs hurled three scoreless innings in relief and fanned five batters.

Next up for the Diamond Warriors is another key division matchup with Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College scheduled Saturday, April 10. Doubleheader action begins at 1 p.m. at the Clark/Gay Baseball Complex on the Decatur campus. The two squads split a doubleheader April 10 on the Perkinston campus.

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