MCC downs Chipola for first win

By Robby Atkinson/Special to The Star The Meridian Star

PANAMA CITY, Fla. — The Meridian Community College Eagles used a solid pitching performance from sophomore Jonathan Thompson and some timely hitting to take its first win of the 2010 season by a final score of 8-5 against Chipola Junior College at the First Pitch Classic at Gulf Coast.

Thompson pitched 7 1/3 innings and collected six strikeouts to earn his first as an MCC Eagle. Freshman Payton Gardener earned the save for the Eagles working the final 1 2/3 and tallying three strikeouts in relief.

"We had a great day on the mound," said MCC head coach Chris Rose. "We got a great start from Jonathan and we played some great defense behind him. It feels to good to get our first win of the season in such a tough field of teams in this tournament."

MCC will wrap up its play in the First Pitch Classic today at 2:30 p.m. against Florida Gulf Coast or St. Petersburg College.

MCC opened with a 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning thanks to some great hitting from the top of the Eagle lineup. Sophomore Corey Dickerson delivered a two-run single to left field with two outs to give MCC the early 2-0 lead over the Indians. Chipola came right back with a pair of runs of its own in the bottom portion of the second thanks to a long home run.

Michael Revell hit a towering two-run home run over the fence in left to tie the game at 2-2 after two innings of play. Chipola took its only lead of the game in the fourth inning due to some great hitting with two outs. Jonathan Gilbert smacked a single to right field that scored Joey Rapp who reached on a walk to make the score 3-2 in favor of Chipola.

MCC rallied with a three run fifth inning to take a 5-3 lead over Chipola. The Eagles sent eight players to the plate in the inning and the frame was highlighted by a two-run double by Darren Farmer, a former West Lauderdale standout. MCC extended its lead in the sixth inning with the first home run of the season for the Eagles. Freshman shortstop Graham Spencer smashed a solo home run to left center field to give the Eagles a 6-3 lead.

The Indians chipped away at the MCC lead with a run in the seventh and eighth inning to make the score 6-5. The run in the seventh scored on an error by the Eagles and the fifth run of the game for Chipola scored on a solo home run by Rapp.

MCC tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the ninth inning to put away the 8-5 victory. Kenny Sanders led the inning off with a single and Dickerson followed by reaching on an error by Chipola to put a pair of runners aboard for the Eagles. Both runs scored on a fielding error by the Indians that gave Meridian just enough breathing room for the win.

Sanders led the way for Eagles with two hits and Ben Kingsley added a single in the victory for MCC. The Eagles collected six hits in the game and Chipola earned seven hits in the loss.