March 30, 2022
The No. 10 East Central Community Warriors took game one in a MACCC doubleheader with Jones College, 4-2, before falling in game two 14-5 on Tuesday afternoon, March 29. The split moved the Warriors' record to 19-8 overall on the year and to 6-6 in conference play, while the Bobcats moved to 18-10, 5-7.
Austin Green, Kade Turnage, and Trey Lewis led the way at the plate for the Warriors through the two games with the trio all posting three hits each, while Lewis and Clayton Cook had a pair of RBIs each.
Lewis' hits came in both games to extend his team-high reached base streak to 23 games. Conner Hicks had a pair of hits in the first game and drew a walk in the second to grow his reached base streak to 12 games. Green reached base in both games as well to move to 14 straight games reaching base safely and pushed his hitting streak to three games, while J.T. Vance is up to 10 games in a row reaching base safely with a three-game hitting streak. Turnage extended his hitting streak to three games and reached base streak to nine.
Game One | W, 4-2
The opener was a fast-paced, low-scoring contest as pitching and defense were solid for both teams throughout.
Vance and Coleton Smith paired up for back-to-back RBI singles to score Lewis and Eli Collins in the bottom of the first to put the Warriors on top early in the tightly contested matchup.
The next four frames were scoreless until Jones posted a solo homer in the top of the sixth to cut the ECCC lead in half, 2-1.
The run was quickly erased as Turnage responded with a solo homer to left to lead off the home half of the sixth. After a single from Conner Hicks and a double from Green, the Warriors were threatening again. Leighton Jenkins capitalized on the baserunners with a sac fly to grow the Warrior lead to 4-1 going into the seventh.
The Bobcats plated one in the ninth, but it was not enough as the Warriors forced a flyout on the next pitch to secure the 4-2 win.
Mason Willis got the start on the mound for the Warriors and earned the win as he threw five and two-thirds innings. Willis surrendered four hits, one run – earned – with two walks, and one strikeout. Ervin Simmons threw three strong innings in relief with one run – earned – on no hits with two walks and three strikeouts. Cade Hall recorded the last out for the Warriors on the hill.
Hicks, Vance, and Green had two hits each to lead the Warriors at the plate.
Game Two | L, 14-5
The Bobcats got in front early in the nightcap and held the Warriors at bay to secure the split as fielding woes hurt ECCC's chances.
Jones poured in four runs in the top of the first on a fielder's choice, a sac fly, and an RBI double, but ECCC's bats were still rolling as Cook led off with a double in the bottom. Cook came around and scored later in the inning on an error to cut it to 4-1.
An error and single added three more runs for Jones in the top of the second, but a two-run RBI double from Cook, followed by a two-run bomb from Lewis made the game interesting in the bottom of the second as the Warriors trailed by just two, 7-5.
Jones added one in the third and a pair of errors scored three in the fourth to pull the game out of reach for ECCC.
Cook, Lewis, and Turnage all had two hits in the contest with Cook's and Lewis' back-to-back two-run at-bats allowing the duo to lead ECCC with two RBIs each.
ECCC threw six pitchers in the seven-inning contest with Henry Thornton getting the start and the loss after throwing one and two-thirds innings. Gage Tufnell had the longest outing of three innings. Luke Odom, David Burton, Dagan Martin, and Simmons also threw in relief. Andrew Nix got the start for Jones College.
Up Next
The Warriors return to Decatur on Saturday, April 2, as ECCC takes on the Mississippi Delta Trojans in a MACCC doubleheader at 2 and 5 p.m. Fans can watch the games live at www.eccclive.com/gold.
