McWilliams hurls Eagles past Devils

By Robby Atkinson / Special to The Star
The Meridian Star

MERIDIAN — The Meridian Community College Eagles have had a roller coaster type of season in 2011, but on Sunday the Eagles did just about everything right against Kaskaskia College. MCC used a solid pitching performance from former West Lauderdale standout Dustin McWilliams and timely hitting to shut down the Devils 4-0.

The Eagles improved to 12-10 with the win against Kaskaskia and MCC coach Chris Curry was very pleased with his team's performance after the game.

"That was a Meridian type of win," said Curry. "We did a lot of great things today in the field and got some big hits in some very key situations. We did all of the fundamental things right today and this is a great home victory for our team."

McWiliams was the star of the day for MCC on the mound, as the sophmore tossed eight innings for the Eagles and collected eight strikeouts. Freshman Brandon Hallford pitched the final inning for MCC and added a strikeout to preserve the shuout for the Eagles.

"He (McWilliams) set the tone for our team today," added Curry. "He threw strikes today and did a great job of filling the zone."

The Eagles got the scoring started in the bottom of the second inning with a run. Wade Wass led the inning off by reaching on a walk and later scored on an RBI single by Hunter Trawic. Both starting pitchers dominated the game until Meridian would crack the scoreboard once again with a run in the bottom of the sixth inning to extend its lead.

Former Meridian High standout Kenny Roberts led the inning off with a single and later came around to score on a single by Ben Kingsley. The Eagles added two more runs in the eighth inning, one run scoring on a bunt single by Garrett Pitts and the other run scoring on a fielder's choice.

MCC ended the game with eight hits and was led by Roberts, Kinglsey, and Pitts with two hits apiece in the victory. Kaskaskia (2-1) finished the game with six total hits and was led by Dalton Page with a pair of hits. Meridian returns to action today against Tyler Junior College at Scaggs Field. The game is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.