Eagles enter postseason looking to be remembered

By Robby Atkinson/Special to The Star

The Meridian Community College Eagles will look to build on their championship tradition this weekend as the Eagles open postseason play in the 2009 Region 23 Division I Baseball Tournament in Baton Rouge, La.

The Eagles will enter the tournament this weekend as the second seed among the three teams and MCC head coach Chris Rose hopes the past will repeat itself this weekend.

“Since I have been head coach we have always started slow and peaked in the post season,” Rose said. “I hope this year is no exception. We have played well at times and poor at times, but that’s junior college baseball.”

The Eagles finished the 2009 regular season with a 34-16 overall record and a 9-4 Miss-Lou Conference record which was good enough for the second seed in this weekend’s tournament. Delgado is the top seed after posting an overall record of 33-14 and a Miss-Lou Conference clip of 10-3. Baton Rouge struggled throughout the regular season with a 9-39 overall record and a Miss-Lou Conference record of 1-12. The one win for Baton Rouge in conference play came against the Eagles by a 5-4 final score.

Fourteen of the 16 losses for Meridian during the 2009 regular season came by just one run and the Eagles are hoping to reverse its fortunes in the postseason.

“Losing 14 times by one run was tough,” added Rose. “If we would have won those games we would be 48-2. Right now I don’t know if that’s good or bad. If we have learned the lessons from those games then it’s good, if not we will have a short postseason life.”

MCC will open the Region 23 Tournament against Baton Rouge on Saturday at noon and will also battle rival Delgado on Saturday, as well, at 7 p.m. The Eagles and Dolphins spilt their season series against each other during the regular season. MCC dropped two of three on the road in New Orleans earlier this season and the Eagles battled back to take two of three games against Delgado a couple of weeks ago.

The tournament schedule will also include at 3:30 p.m. game between Delgado and Baton Rouge. The tournament will be double-elimination format and the potential championship game will take place Sunday at 3:30 p.m. with an if necessary game to follow.

MCC enters the tournament with one of the hottest offenses in the country that features four power hitters. Tyler Vick leads the charge with 22 home runs which leads the NJCAA and the former West Lauderdale standout also sports a .418 batting average with 63 RBI’s.

“Tyler has more juice than any player I have ever coached,” said Rose. “Because he has protection in front and behind him in the lineup he gets pitches to hit and he is such a valuable player.”

Vick also holds the single season and school record for home runs which he set earlier this season against Delgado.

Brent Tanner and Wesley Thigpen are the two players that surround Vick that have also put up impressive numbers this season. Tanner collected 13 home runs and batted .416 for the Eagles with 54 RBI’s, while Thigpen had a .381 batting average with 11 home runs and 48 RBI’s.

Freshman Corey Dickerson enters the tournament with a .378 average with 15 home runs and 44 RBI’s from the leadoff spot for MCC. Dickerson also became the second player in school history to hit for the cycle which came against Delgado earlier in 2009.

Shortstop Jordan King also finished strong for MCC with a .409 batting average with six home runs and 37 RBI’s.

On the mound, the Eagles have had multiple arms that have made a huge difference in 2009. Sophomores Eric Callender and Garrett Harris will look to be factors as starters this weekend in the regional tournament for the Eagles. Freshman Mandella Mingo has been a solid conference starting pitcher for Meridian as well. Sophomore Jared Cavenaugh and freshman Alan Williams will look to have key roles out of the bullpen this weekend for MCC as well.

All of the MCC games in the Region 23 Tournament will be carried on radio locally by WMER 1390 AM.

“We have been waiting for this day from the first team meeting,” said Rose. “At Meridian you are remembered by your postseason play. The seven World Series teams are remembered and the rest are not. Now we to get make our mark and continue the tradition.”