Warriors sweep Eagles

By Brandon Walker
assistant sports editor

(DECATUR) - The conditions were daunting.

Taking the mound in game two of a doubleheader Tuesday afternoon, East Central starting pitcher Gregory Stovall had to notice the circumstances.

With winds gusting up to 30 mph and blowing in the direction of left field, homestanding East Central Community College and visiting Meridian had just combined for four home runs in a 10-9 slugfest won by the Warriors in the first game of a doubleheader.

With favorable hitting conditions, the deck seemed stacked against Stovall as he prepared to face potent Eagles' lineup?

Stovall's response? No problem.

Stovall, a sophomore lefty from Neshoba Central High School, turned in a marvelous performance, allowing just three hits in 6.1 innings of shutout baseball, which proved to be just enough to stake East Central to a 2-0 win and a sweep of rival MCC.

"He was tremendous today," remarked ECCC head coach Neal Holliman, who watched his team improve to 16-11 overall and 2-0 in MACJC Central Division play. "He is one of the guys we depend on to give us quality innings every time he goes out there. He has struggled at times, but he gave us exactly what we needed today."

Stovall's shutout capped an intense pair of games between the Eagles and Warriors.

In the opener, a polar opposite from the nightcap, the two teams combined for 20 hits and ECCC rallied from an 8-3 deficit to take a 10-9 win.

MCC out-hit East Central 11-9 in game one, but seven walks from Eagle pitching and three errors would allow East Central the chance to come away with a win.

The Eagles appeared to be in control throughout the early stages, as former West Lauderdale standout Tyler Vick connected on a pair of homers in consecutive innings to give MCC an 8-3 lead.

In the fourth inning, Vick lined a 1-strike pitch from ECCC's Jesus Alaman over the center-field wall for a two-run shot before delivering a three-run blast in the top of the fifth. This one, a towering shot over the left-field wall, gave MCC a commanding five-run lead.

Trailing 8-3, the Warriors immediately responded with a five-run fifth inning. Against MCC reliever Brent Gough, the Warriors began to fight back when Brian Jones doubled in a pair of runs to cut the lead to 8-5, setting the stage for a game-tying, three-run home run off the bat of left-fielder Josh Lafferty which capped the comeback.

"That was the most important inning of the day," Holliman said. "They went up big on us and we came right back with a five-spot. I knew we had to answer in that inning to give ourselves a chance, I just didn't know we'd score five like that."

After MCC's Shannon Steed laced a solo home run in the top of the sixth, ECCC once again rallied, scoring two sixth inning runs to regain the lead.

After Clint Coleman singled to lead off the inning, catcher Chris Parkman delivered an RBI single to tie the score. One batter later, courtesy runner Allen Cheek took off on a steal attempt to second base, allowing Ze'Ericka Hall to score the go-ahead run from third.

When Jones came on in relief and shut the door with a 1-2-3 seventh inning, the Warriors had an unlikely win.

"That was big," Holliman added. "When you look back on these games, they'll just be two out of 16 conference games, but the way we won today really says a lot."

Offensively, Vick led the way with two hits and five RBIs for MCC while Scott Mosely added three singles.

For East Central, Lafferty, Coleman and Parkman had two hits apiece.

While the result in game two was the same, the story was much different.

With Stovall and MCC starter Tyler McMullen locked in a pitchers' duel, the Warriors struck for the only two runs of the game in the bottom of the first inning.

McMullen, a freshman righty from Southeast Lauderdale who reverse transferred from Ole Miss — allowed just five hits and struck out six in six innings, allowed a double from Warrior DH Brandon Williams and a triple from Hall to fall behind 1-0 in the first. Jones pushed the lead to 2-0 with an RBI single that scored Hall.

For his part, Stovall ran into trouble just once, allowing runners to reach first and third in the top of the first before escape without any damage.

"When he got out of the first with no runs, that was huge for our confidence," Holliman added.

Stovall dominated the Eagle bats for more than six innings before handing off to Jones, who retired the final two batters of the game for his second save of the day.

Offensively, Hall had a pair of hits for ECCC.

"It's always big to beat a quality team like Meridian, but we had 14 more conference games to go," Holliman said.

MCC will return home to host Gulf Coast Friday while East Central will host Jones County.