March 22, 2018
East Central pitcher Kolby Crowley celebrates an out in the Warriors opening game win. (ECCC Photo)
Two East Central Community College pitchers combined for a shutout in the nightcap and Wyatt Ball hit for the cycle over two games as the No. 13 ranked Warriors picked up an MACJC doubleheader sweep over the visiting Southwest Mississippi Community College Bears Wednesday, March 21, at the Clark-Gay Baseball Complex in Decatur.
Ball, a sophomore from Nanih Waiya, had a single, double, and triple in the opening game 15-7 win, and pitchers Brooks Warren and Woody Vowell combined for a four-hit shutout in a 10-0 game two win. Ball had a solo homer in game two.
With the wins, the Warriors improved to 15-5 on the season and 4-0 in MACJC play. The visitors from Summit are now 5-10 overall and 2-2 in the league.
East Central scored multiple runs in five innings in game one, shortened to eight innings by run-rule. Ball singled, doubled, and tripled in the game, driving in three runs. Freshmen Ken Scott of Clarkdale, Anderson Shelley of Greenville, and Will Ross of Hernando and sophomore Jacob Edwards of Newton County all had two-hit games. Scott, Edwards, and freshman Alex Hay of Lewisburg each had two RBI.
Sophomore right-hander and University of North Alabama signee Kolby Crowley out of East Webster picked up his second win of the season on the mound in the opener.
In the game two win, Warren, a sophomore left-hander from French Camp Academy, shut down the Bears. The University of Southern Mississippi signee gave up just four hits and struck out eight batters in five innings of work. Vowell, a freshman from Choctaw County, pitched a hitless sixth inning.
The Warriors scored four runs in the bottom of the second inning thanks to an RBI single from sophomore Davis Lott of Lewisburg High School, a two-run double off the bat of freshman Deon Leflore of Leake Central, and a passed ball. East Central added four more runs in the bottom of the fourth, including two on a double by Ball. After adding a single run in the fifth, Ball’s third home run of the year ended the game by run-rule in the bottom of the sixth.
For the day, Ball was five for nine with six RBI and three runs scored. Ross, Lott and Edwards, who will play for USM next year, all had three hits in the two games. Leflore had four RBI, and Scott hit a two-run home run in the first inning of game one, his third of the season.
The Warriors will host MACJC foe Holmes Community College Saturday, March 24, for games at 2 p.m. and 5 p.m.
East Central will travel to No. 3 ranked Jones County Junior College on Tuesday, March 27. The games in Ellisville are at 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. The Warriors stay on the road Friday, March 30, at Mississippi Delta Community College in Moorhead. Game times are 1 p.m. and 4 p.m.
Most home baseball games can be heard on WKOZ Cruisin 98.3 or via audio stream and live stream video at www.eccc.edu/eccc-media.
