MCC Eagles fall to Vikings

By Robby Atkinson / Special to The Star

MERIDIAN — The Meridian Community College Eagles were riding a seven-game winning streak at one point in the early weeks of the season, but the Eagles have slipped in the other direction.

MCC battled back from an 8-1 deficit, but the Eagles couldn't completely seal the deal as Jefferson College took a 10-9 victory at Scaggs Field on Friday afternoon. The one-run setback now puts Meridian on a three-game losing streak heading into a doubleheader today at 2 p.m. against the Vikings.

"I don't believe in moral victories, but I am very pleased with the way our team battled today," said MCC coach Chris Curry. "We fought through a lot of adversity the whole week and I just liked the way our guys didn't give up."

The Vikings scored the first run of the game in the top of the first inning as Casey Goss led the game off by drawing a walk and later scored on a wild pitch. MCC answered in the bottom of the first inning to tie the game at 1. Freshman pitcher Nolan Thomas helped his cause by driving in a run on a single to right field.

Jefferson College would put the game out of reach in the top of the second inning with seven runs to take its largest lead at 8-1. Brenden Neel had a two-run double and Fred Ford added a three-run home run to spark the Vikings.

MCC fought back from the seven-run deficit to score four runs in the bottom of the second inning, with two runs scoring on an error, while the other two runs scored on a wild pitch and bases-loaded walk.

Jefferson (1-0) added two more runs to answer MCC in the top of the fourth to make the score 10-5. The Vikings scored both runs on ground outs by Kyle Leslie and Nathan Geile before MCC kept the pressure on with another pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Former West Lauderdale standout Darren Farmer kept his bat hot by driving both runs in on a two-run home run over the wall in center.

The Eagles scored two more runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to draw even closer at 10-9. Johnny Tolson had an RBI single in the inning and Dustin James, a former West standout, added an RBI on a single. Both teams would fail to score in the next three innings, but MCC had one final chance heading into the bottom of the ninth. Brain Donohoe got the rally started with a one-out double to left and Clarkdale product Kasey Hinton followed with a single to put a pair of runners at the corners.

Farmer reached on a walk moments later to load the bases with one out. Jefferson was able to collect the final two outs, though, and secure win. The Eagles collected 13 hits in the game and was led by Hinton with three hits, including a double. Farmer and Tolson each added two hits apiece in the loss for the Eagles.