March 5, 2022
The No. 12 East Central Community College Warriors moved to 12-2 on the year on Saturday, March 5, with a couple of wins over the Tyler Junior College Apaches out of Texas. The wins mark the fifth and sixth straight wins for ECCC.
ECCC's Trey Lewis, extended his hitting streak to 10 games, while Clayton Cook and Eli Collins grew theirs to five straight as the trio all got hits in both contests. J.T. Vance reached base in both games to grow his team-leading reached base streak to 13 games.
Game One | W, 9-1
The Warriors were led to victory in the first game of the day with a stellar complete-game outing from Mason Willis on the bump. ECCC backed that performance up with solid play in the field, but more importantly, manufactured runs with aggressiveness on the basepaths. The Warriors stole six bags, with Trey Lewis taking three, while Eli Collins swiped two.
The Warriors were led at the plate with three hits from Lewis, while Clayton Cook added two. Lewis and Austin Lee drove in two runs each.
The Tyler Apaches lept out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first as a run crossed the plate, but it was all ECCC from that inning on.
An error scored one in the bottom of the first before the Apaches kicked in around again in the third to add another pair. J.T. Vance also drove in an ECCC run to make it 4-1 going into the fourth.
Lewis plated his two runs on a big triple to left and scored on a throwing error on the same play to push the lead to 7-1. Just three batters later, Lee rocketed a two-run homer for the final runs of the afternoon.
Willis finished the afternoon surrendering just one run – earned – on four hits with eight strikeouts and no walks.
Game Two | W, 12-5
After a one, two, three inning to start game two, the Warriors' offensive pressure continued as Cook led off with a double. He scored just two batters later on a Collins ground out as he stole second and moved to third on a passed ball. The Warriors added another later in the frame with a double steal as runners were on the corners. The tricky play scored Lewis and made it 2-0 going into the second.
That lead ballooned to 5-0 in the second as Coleton Smith reached on a single and was moved to third on a Leighton Jenkins double. Later in the frame, Lewis drove them in with a double and was immediately plated as Collins followed with a double of his own.
The Apaches got a couple back in the third after three straight singles loaded the bases, but Grant Edwards limited the damage with a couple of big strikeouts.
Ramie Harrison led off the bottom of the third with a walk. Harrison eventually came around and scored on an RBI single from Smith.
The Apaches had their second straight two-run inning in the top of the fourth to cut the Warrior lead to just two, 6-4, going into the bottom of the fourth.
In the bottom half, the Warriors got another run on a double steal with runners on first and third, and Harrison drove in another with a hard-hit RBI single. Going into the fifth, ECCC led 8-4.
A solo homer from Tyler JC in the top of the fifth cut the lead to 8-5, but pitching woes troubled the Apaches in the bottom of the fifth as four straight batters were either walked or hit by pitch, which made it 12-5. Strong pitching down the stretch secured the win.
Harrison and Smith's two-hit performances led the way for the Warriors at the plate, while Collins had a team-high three RBIs.
Edwards got the win on the mound as he surrendered four runs – three earned – on five hits with five strikeouts and two walks. Miles Miller, Cole Wilkerson, Ervin Simmons, and Dagan Martin all threw in relief for the Warriors.
Up Next
The No. 12 Warriors are back at home this Tuesday, March 8, as ECCC plays host to a round-robin featuring Lansing Community College and Hinds. The Warriors will take on Lansing at 1 p.m. and Hinds at 6 p.m. The Eagles and Lansing will face each other in the midday game.
