Eagles defeat Shelton State

By Robby Atkinson
Special to the Star

The Meridian Community College Eagles continued its early season success with a 10-2 victory over Shelton State Tuesday afternoon at Scaggs Field. The Eagles used a five-run fifth inning and a solid pitching performance from former West Lauderdale standout Wes Stokes to notch its fourth straight victory.

"I think that we played a very clean game all around today," said MCC head coach Chris Curry. "We made some excellent plays in the field and our bats are starting to heat up as well. "It was a great win for this group and I am proud of our team in the way they continue to work hard everyday."

MCC (5-1) fell into a quick hole early, as Shelton State scored an early run in the first inning to take a 1-0 lead over the Eagles. Brandon Roberts led the game off for the Buccaneers with a single and later scored on a wild pitch by Stokes to give Shelton State the early lead.

Meridian rebounded with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning to take the lead over Shelton State 2-1. The first run of the inning scored on an RBI single by Ben Kingsley that scored Johnny Tolson who reached earlier in the inning on a single to tie the game at 1-1. Nolan Thomas drove in the second run of the game moments later for the Eagles with an RBI single to give MCC the lead at 2-1.

The Eagles extended its lead in the bottom of the fourth inning with a run to make the score 3-1. Thomas led the inning off with a walk and Hunter Trawick followed with a single to put a pair of runners on base for MCC. Freshman catcher Brian Donohoe would drive in the run for Meridian later in the inning on an RBI ground out to second base to give the Eagles a two-run lead over Shelton State.

MCC would put the game out of each with five runs in the fifth inning to make the score 8-1. Former Meridian High standout Kenny Roberts drove a pair of runs in for the Eagles on a double in the fifth inning, while Thomas added an RBI single in the big inning for the Eagles. Donohoe added an RBI single in the fifth inning and Farmer collected an RBI on a bases loaded walk for MCC.

Shelton State (1-3) added its only other run of the game in the top of the seventh inning to cut the Meridian lead to 8-2. Blake Barber reached on a two-out single for the Buccaneers and later scored on a bases loaded wild pitch by Meridian.

MCC scored its final two run of the game in the seventh inning to move on to the 10-2 victory over Shelton State. One run scored on a double play and the second run came on an RBI double by Tolson.

Meridian ended the game with 14 hits and Tolson led the Eagles with three hits, while Farmer and Donohoe each had two hits apiece in the victory. Wes Stokes (2-0) earned the pitching win for MCC by working five innings and collected eight strikeouts.

Meridian returns to action this weekend in the annual Rush Invitational Tournament at Scaggs Field. The Eagles will take part in the three-day tournament along with Wabash Valley Community College and East Central Community College. Meridian will play its first game of the Rush Invitational against Wabash Valley a 2 p.m.