March 18, 2018
East Central freshman first baseman Will Ross of Hernando stretches to get the out in game one against Coahoma. Ross had a big day at the plate with three hits and four RBI in the doubleheader. (EC Photo)
Sophomore Dylan Marsh threw a complete game, one-hit shutout in the nightcap as the East Central Community College Warriors opened the 2018 MACJC Conference baseball season with a doubleheader sweep of the Coahoma Community College Tigers Saturday, March 17, at the Clark-Gay Baseball Complex in Decatur.
East Central won the opener 8-5 and the second game 7-0 behind the pitching gem of the right-hander from Lake Cormorant.
The Warriors improved to 13-5 on the season and 2-0 in MACJC play. The visitors from Clarksdale are now 12-8 and 0-2 in the league.
Marsh had a strong week on the mound. Against Coahoma, he held the Tigers to just one hit over seven innings while striking out nine batters and giving up no walks. Earlier in the week in a loss to NJCAA Division I Panola College, Marsh struck out six batters and gave up no earned runs in four innings of work.
East Central put game two against Coahoma away early with four runs in the bottom of the first thanks to three Tiger errors and RBI singles from freshman George Farid (Mississauga, Ontario, Canada) and sophomore Wyatt Ball from Nanih Waiya. Sophomore Jacob Edwards of Newton County made the score 5-0 after two innings with a long home run over the scoreboard in left center. The Warriors added two more runs in bottom of the fifth on a double by Will Ross of Hernando that plated two runs.
Coahoma scored first in game one with an unearned run in the first inning. The Warriors tied the game 1-1 in the third on another RBI single from Farid. East Central took the lead for good in the fourth when Edwards singled in two runs for the 3-1 lead. A Ross single drove in a run in the fifth, and two East Central runs came across the plate in the sixth on sacrifice flies. The Warrior’s final runs came on a Ross homer in the seventh and a Coahoma error in the eighth.
East Central took an 8-1 lead to the top of the ninth and had to hold on as Coahoma took advantage of a couple of walks, an error, and three straight singles to close the gap to the final score of 8-5.
The Warriors will host two MACJC doubleheaders next week. Southwest Mississippi Community College visits Wednesday, March 21, for games at 3 p.m. and 6 p.m., and Holmes Community College is in town Saturday, March 24, for games at 2 p.m. and 5 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.
East Central freshman Deon Leflore of Leake Central heads for second base after hitting a double in game one. (EC Photo)
