Rush Tournament Recap

Sunday:
Wabash 13, MCC 9

The Meridian Community College Eagles saw its seven game winning streak vanish Sunday afternoon in the final round of the 2011 Rush Invitational Tournament at Scaggs Field. Wabash Valley scored seven late runs to roll to a 13-9 victory over MCC and avoid a sweep at the hand of the Eagles.

"I just felt like that our mistakes finally caught up to us," said MCC head coach Chris Curry. "We just were not mentally prepared to play today and it cost us."

MCC (8-2) led for much of the early stages of the game, but four errors by the Meridian defense would prove to be a huge difference late in the game. The Eagles did take a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning on a three-run double by former Clarkdale standout Kasey Hinton. The double that scored three runs in the inning came with two outs by Hinton.

Wabash Valley (2-2) struck back for a run in the top of the third inning to trim the MCC lead to 3-1. Steve Hodgins reached on an error by second baseman Kenny Roberts and later scored on a double steal to make the score 3-1. The Warriors continued to pour the pressure on Meridian with two more runs in the top of the fifth inning to tie the game at 3-3. One run scored on a wild pitch by MCC starting pitcher Wes Stokes and the second run came across to score on an RBI single by BJ Willis.

Wabash took its first lead of the game in the top of the sixth inning with three runs to make the score 6-3. One run scored on a MCC error and the second run scored on a fielder's choice. The third run of the top of the sixth inning scored on an RBI single by Hodgins. Meridian came roaring back in the bottom portion of the sixth with another spark from Darren Farmer to give MCC a 7-6 lead. The former West Lauderdale product blasted a grand slam home run over the wall in left field to give the Eagles the brief one-run edge.

Wabash Valley answered with three runs in the seventh inning and four more in the eighth inning to move on to the victory. Cha Pizarro smashed a two-run homer in the seventh for Wabash and Chris Glynn added an RBI single in the four-run eighth inning for the Warriors.

MCC did manage two runs in the final inning, but the Eagles fell by a final score of 13-9. Jamey Cutts and Brian Donohoe each had an RBI single in the ninth inning for Meridian.

The Eagles ended the game with 15 hits and was led by Farmer with a team high three hits and four RBI. Hinton and Roberts each added two hits apiece in the setback for the Eagles.

Meridian returns to action Tuesday afternoon on the road at Shelton State. The game is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. in Tuscaloosa, AL.

Saturday:
MCC 7, Wabash 4
MCC 5, ECCC 3

Meridian Community College headed into the second day of the 2011 Rush Invitational Tournament looking to continue its impressive winning streak and the Eagles survived a huge scare. East Central provided plenty of drama in the second game of the day, but MCC was able to hold on for a 5-3 victory to extend its winning streak to seven games.

ECCC took a 2-1 lead over Meridian heading into the bottom of the seventh inning, but the Eagles used two home runs to take the lead for good. Freshman right fielder Wade Wass and former West Lauderdale standout Darren Farmer provided the offensive spark in the inning for Meridian.

"We give a lot of credit to East Central for playing such a hard game today," said MCC head coach Chris Curry. "I am proud of how we battled back late in the game after trailing and we need to play a little better defensively."

MCC struck with the first run of the game with a home run from Brian Donohoe in the bottom of the third inning to give the Eagles the 1-0 lead. ECCC answered right back with a long ball of its own to tie the game at 1-1 in the top of the fourth inning. Vince Kortbawi brought the first run across the plate on the solo home run over the wall for the Warriors.

East Central (2-2) would eventually take the lead in the top of the seventh thanks to a throwing error by MCC. Tyler Brant reached base on a walk for the Warriors and later scored in the inning on a throwing error by the Eagles to give ECCC a brief 2-1 lead. MCC snatched the lead away from East Central with the pair of home runs to make the score 5-2. Wass smashed a solo home run over the scoreboard in right field and Farmer added a three-run shot later in the inning to give Meridian the three-run lead.

ECCC added a run in the final inning on an RBI single by Jeremy May, but the Warriors would fall to the Eagles by a final of 5-3.

MCC (8-1) ended the game with nine hits and was led by Kenny Roberts with two hits and Donohoe collected a pair of hits in the victory. Kortbawi led the way for ECCC with a pair of hits and Darmall Moore also collected a pair of hits in the loss for the Warriors.

Former Enterprise standout Steven Taylor (1-1) picked up the pitching win in relief for Meridian and Tyler Dalton (0-1) was saddled with the pitching loss in relief for East Central. The Warriors also lost its final game of the day to Wabash Valley by a final score of 9-7.

Meridian returns to action today in the final round of the Rush Invitational Tournament against Wabash Valley at 1 p.m. at Scaggs Field.

The Eagles picked up its second win over Wabash Valley in the tournament despite making some costly errors early in the game. The Warriors scored four runs in the top of the second inning on four errors by the Eagles, but MCC was able to rebound for the three-run victory.

MCC scored first in the game with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning to take a 2-0 lead over Wabash Valley. One run scored on an RBI single by Nolan Thomas and the second run scored on a throwing error by Wabash Valley. The Warriors scored all of its runs in the top of the second inning and took its only lead of the game 4-2. Three of the runs scored on a missed fly ball with the bases loaded by Meridian and fourth run scored on an infield error by the Eagles.

MCC came right back after the miscues and scored a pair of runs to tie the game at 4-4 in the bottom of the second inning. One run scored on an RBI single by Johnny Tolson and Roberts knocked in the second run on a single for the Eagles. Meridian added two more runs in the bottom of the fifth on a two-run home run by Wass and Roberts drove the final run of the game in with a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning. MCC ended the game with eight hits and Tolson led the charge with two hits for Meridian. Chase Jordan (1-0) picked up the pitching win for Meridian by tossing four scoreless innings in relief.


Friday:
MCC 9, Wabash 5

The Meridian Community College Eagles opened the first day of the 2011 Rush Tournament by extending its winning streak to five games with a 9-5 victory over Wabash Valley Community College at Scaggs Field on Friday afternoon. The Eagles scored six early runs and held off a late charge by the Warriors to improve their record to 6-1 for the 2011 season.

The Eagles got the scoring started with two runs in the bottom of the first inning by way of the long ball. Former Meridian High standout Kenny Roberts belted a two-run home run over the wall in right field to give Meridian the 2-0 lead over Wabash. MCC moved its lead to 4-0 in the bottom of the second inning in part to a costly fielding error by the Warriors. Both runs came across the plate in the inning on a throwing error by the Wabash Valley infield to give Meridian a four-run lead.

The Eagles continued to pour on the runs in the third inning to increase its lead to 6-0 over Wabash Valley. Nolan Thomas got the inning started for the Eagles with a single and later scored on a two-run home run by Wade Wass to give MCC its largest lead of the game.

Wabash Valley (0-1) started to chip away at the MCC lead with a pair of runs in the top of the fourth inning to make the score 6-2 in favor of the Eagles. Korey Hall drove in one of the runs for Wabash Valley on a double and the second run came across on a throwing error by MCC. The Warriors continued to mount its comeback with one run in the sixth and seventh inning to trim the lead to 6-4. Wabash Valley started the sixth inning with a single from Shane Crain and Marcos Drekes later reached on a walk to give the Warriors a pair of base runners. Steve Hodgins would reach on a walk to load the bases for Wabash moments later and Wabash eventually would score its only run of the inning.

Edmanuel Rivera belted a line drive back to the pitchers mound that would plate a run for Wabash and make the score 6-3. MCC relief pitcher Michael Manley would battle out of the bases loaded jam and hold the damage to just one run in the top of the sixth inning. Wabash scored its other run in the seventh inning an RBI double by Shane Crain.

MCC would put the game out of reach in the bottom of the seventh with three runs to make the score 9-4. Thomas drove in one of the runs on a sacrifice fly to center and the other two runs scored on bases loaded walks. The Warriors added its final run of the game on a sacrifice fly by Rivera and MCC would hold on for the 9-5 victory over Wabash. The Eagles ended the game with seven hits as Roberts led the way with two hits and a pair of RBI's.

Former West Lauderdale standout Dustin McWilliams (1-0) was credited with the pitching for MCC and Alex Gordon took the pitching loss for the Warriors. Meridian returns to action today at 11 a.m. against East Central and will also take on Wabash Valley at 2 p.m.