April 15, 2017
After dropping two games at home to Hinds earlier in the week, the East Central Community College Warriors got back on the winning track with a doubleheader sweep over Northeast Mississippi Community College Friday, April 14, at the Clark-Gay Baseball Complex in Decatur.
East Central won the opener 10-1 and took the nightcap 9-2.
With the wins the Diamond Warriors improved to 24-12 overall and 10-8 in MACJC play. After dropping four of the previous five doubleheaders, East Central remains tied for eighth place in the league and in playoff contention with five league series remaining.
East Central got strong starting pitching from Payton Griffin in game one. The freshman out of Hebron Christian School gave up just three hits and one run over five innings.
Cole Prestegard out of Huntsville (Ala.) High School powered the Warriors offensively with four hits, including two solo home runs. Brandon Clark out of Neshoba Central and Zach Parker from Quitman also had two RBI each.
East Central took command early in the nightcap with five runs in the bottom of the first thanks to a Luke Yancey single, an error, and a three-run double off the bat of Hunter Bennett from Chilton County (Ala.).
The Warriors added another run in the third, two in the fifth and another in the sixth. Billy Cameron out of Mendenhall had three hits in four trips to the plate for East Central.
Six different pitchers took the mound for East Central in game two, with freshman Kolby Crowley out of Winston Academy getting the win with three innings of one-hit baseball.
The Warriors pounded out 23 hits in the two games.
The Warriors hit the road Wednesday, April 19, to face Copiah-Lincoln Community College in Wesson at 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. East Central will then host Itawamba Community College on Saturday, April 22, at the Clark-Gay Complex in Decatur. It will be WarriorFest when the college will attempt to set the single game, regular season, on-campus attendance record of 767.
