March 8, 2021
The ECCC offense could not be tamed on Saturday, March 6, as the Warriors ran away with a pair of big wins against Holmes, 15-4 and 14-6. The offensive showcases pushed the Warriors record to 9-5 on the year and to 6-0 in the MACCC.
Game One | W, 14-6
An RBI triple from Amani Larry (Bossier City, La.) and another run driven in by Austin Lee (Madison) put the Warriors in a commanding position in the first inning on Saturday. Holmes battled back with three runs in the bottom of the frame, a foreshadowing of the day as runs would pour across the plate all afternoon, to take an early 3-2 lead.
A Bulldog error and an RBI single from Jesse Boydstun (Louisville) gave another three runs to the Warriors in the second and put ECCC on top, 5-3. A lead that they would not surrender for the remainder of the game.
Larry and J.T. Vance (Union) added another four in the fourth. Eli Harrison (Little Rock) roped one to left in the sixth to push the Warriors' run-count to double digits before a passed ball plated another two. Lee doubled in the seventh to score another pair of ECCC runs putting 14 runs on the board, matching the Warriors' strong performance against East Miss earlier in the year.
Throughout the game, Holmes picked up runs here-and-there, but it was not enough to shrink the 14-5 lead.
Larry, Lee, and Harrison all finished with two hits on the day, while Lee's three RBIs led the team.
Gage Tufnell (Hurley) threw a great game as he posted 102 pitches over six innings. He surrendered five runs on four hits over six innings, striking out five and walking one. Brian Johnson (Ridgeland) threw one inning in relief out of the bullpen.
Game Two | W, 15-4
The solid hitting continued into the nightcap as the Warriors never trailed in game two. A Boydstun groundout RBI followed by Larry scoring on a passed ball put ECCC up by two in the top of the first yet again.
Holmes scratched one across in the bottom of the frame, but ECCC's bats explode in the second with an RBI from Roper Ball (Noxapater) followed by a pair of RBI-singles from Larry and Coleton Smith (Gulfport). The big inning made it 5-1 Warriors.
The Warriors had another big frame in the fourth as five batters rattled off RBIs in a row. Conner Hicks (Stringer) got the rally started with a line-drive single that plated one. R.J. Fletcher (St. Martin) and Trey Lewis (Silas, Ala.) followed with a pair of RBI-singles before a sac-fly from Clayton Cook (Mize) and a Ball double pushed the Warrior lead to 11-2.
Holmes got a couple of runs back, but RBIs from Boydstun, Stephen Wolf (Madison), and Fletcher in the sixth negated them.
Fletcher led the Warriors at the plate with three RBIs on three hits, while Ball, Larry, Boydstun, Wolf, Hicks, and Lewis all posted two hits each.
Hayden West (Decatur) led the ECCC to victory on the mound as he lasted four innings, allowing six hits and four runs while striking out six. Trevor Waddell (Madison) threw two strong innings in relief out of the pen.
Up Next
The Warriors are back on the diamond on Wednesday, March 10, as the team travels to Ellisville to face the Jones College Bobcats. The first pitch of the MACCC doubleheader is set for 3 p.m. A live stream link will be posted to ECCC Athletics social media pages when it becomes available.
