Sweep Miss-Lou start for MCC

Eagles take pair from rival Dolphins

By Robby Atkinson/Special to The Star The Meridian Star

MERIDIAN — The Meridian Community College Eagles knew coming into its first weekend of Miss-Lou Conference play against Delgado that the test would be difficult, but the Eagles passed with flying colors.

MCC used late-inning heroics from freshman Kenny Roberts and several long home runs to secure a 9-8, 11-4 doubleheader sweep of the Dolphins on Saturday at Scaggs Field. MCC (18-10, 2-0) used six home runs in the sweep of Delgado and got solid starting pitching in both victories.

"Anytime you can get a sweep it is nice, but when it comes against a team like Delgado it is very special," said MCC coach Chris Rose. "We hit some key home runs today and a couple came with two strikes in the count. We battled hard today and I am very proud of the whole team and the great effort that we showed today."

MCC is currently riding a five winning streak after taking the sweep of Delgado and the Dolphins dropped to 21-12 overall. MCC will look to wrap up the series sweep of Delgado today with a single game beginning at 1 p.m. Sophomore Blake Hennington will draw the start on the mound for the Eagles as they also look for their fourth straight win against Delgado dating back to last season.


Meridian 9
Delgado 8

Roberts, a former Meridian High standout, drove in the game-winning run with the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh inning to give MCC the one-run victory in Game 1. Roberts finished Game 1 with three singles and the game winning RBI for the Eagles.

"We lost the lead in the top of the seventh and we really showed a lot of character by coming back and pushing those two runs across the plate that we needed to get that win," added Rose. "He (Roberts) did a great job at the plate by putting the ball in play and helping us secure that win in game one."

MCC did trail the game early as Delgado scored in the top of the first inning to make the score 1-0. MCC starting pitcher Alan Williams surrendered two walks and hit a batter to load the bases for the Dolphins. Donnie White drove the first run of the game in on an RBI single. The Eagles responded in a big way with three runs that came way by a towering home run to make the score 3-1. Corey Dickerson led the inning off with an infield single and Ben Kinglsey later reached on a single to put a pair of runners on for Meridian. Former West Lauderdale standout Darren Farmer would put the Eagles in the lead moments later with the three-run home run over the wall in left field.

Delgado answered the MCC three-run first inning with a pair of runs to tie the game at 3-3 in the top of the second inning. Stefan Farrell led the inning off with a double and Cory Guidry followed with a walk to put a pair of base runners on for the Dolphins. Beau Boudreaux delivered a two-run double off the wall in left field to tie the game.

The Eagles took the lead once again and Farmer would lead the charge for Meridian and make the score 5-3 in the bottom of the third inning. Dickerson led the inning off with a double and Kingsley drew a walk moments later to set the table for the freshman catcher. Farmer drove both runs in on a double to left to give MCC a two-run edge. The Eagles continued to pour on the offense in the fourth inning to extend its lead to 7-3 as Dickerson continued his great day by smashing a two-run home run over the wall in center field to push.

Delgado stormed back with three runs in the sixth inning to cut the Meridian lead to 7-6. Scott Fabre drove in a pair of runs in the inning on a two-run home run and Kirk Cunningham added an RBI on a sacrifice fly. Delgado used the momentum from the sixth inning to score a pair of runs in the seventh inning to take an 8-7 lead against MCC in the final inning of action. Both runs scored on a two-run home run by White.

Kinglsey led off the bottom of the seventh inning with a double and later crossed the plate on a sacrifice fly to right by Hunter Trawick to tie the game at 8-8. After the Eagles loaded the bases with two outs, Roberts delivered the game-winning single to left to give Meridian a walk-off victory against its arch-rival.

Peyton Gardner earned the pitching victory in relief and Michael Wisecarver took the loss on the mound for Delgado. Farmer led the way in Game 1 with five RBIs and Dickerson ended the game with three hits and two RBIs.


MCC 11
Delgado 4
Williams connected on two home runs and Jonathan Thompson tossed five strong innings on the mound to lead MCC to the Game 2 victory.

The Eagles scored four runs in the third inning and two of those runs came by way of home runs. MCC rolled into the second game with momentum and used that to its advantage to score in the opening inning and make the score 1-0. Dickerson led the inning off by reaching on a Delgado throwing error and later crossed the plate on an RBI fielder's choice by Kingsley to give Meridian the early lead.

The Dolphins were able to tie the game in the second inning thanks to an RBI double by Jade Falgoust and make the score 1-1. The Eagles took the lead back with a pair of runs in the second inning when Roberts drove in the second run of the game on a single and Dickerson added yet another hit to his total by knocking in the third run for MCC.

Delgado would not go away quietly as the Dolphins scored a pair of runs in the top of the third inning to tie the score once again at 3-3. Farrell knocked in one of the runs in the frame on a single and second run of the inning scored on a fielder's choice for Delgado.

MCC ran away with the game in the third inning with four runs to take a 7-3 lead against the Dolphins. Farmer led the inning off with a solo home run and Williams followed with a solo shot of his own to extend the Meridian lead to 5-3. Michael LeGrange continued the momentum for MCC with a double and later scored on an RBI single by Graham Spencer to push the MCC lead to 6-3. Catcher Chase Hesson ended the huge inning for MCC with an RBI double to move the score to 7-3.

MCC added two more runs in fourth inning and one run in the sixth and seventh innings to move to the 11-4 win. Williams added a solo home run in the fourth and LeGrange also had a solo home run in the inning as well for Meridian.

Delgado scored its only other run in the fifth inning on an infield error by MCC.