MCC Tennis Falls Short At Region 23 Tournament

From School Reports

The Meridian Community College men and women’s tennis teams competed for the first time in several years in the combined NJCAA MACJC State/Region XXIII Tennis Championships over the weekend at Mississippi Gulf Coast.  The field consisted of ten teams:  Copiah Lincoln Community College, East Central Community College, Hinds Community College, Holmes Community College, Jones County Junior College, Itawamba CC, Meridian, Mississippi Gulf Coast CC, Northeast MS Community College, and Northwest Mississippi Community College.  
         

The Meridian women were trying for a seventh consecutive Region XXIII championship,  but fell short by several points.  Jones County Junior College won the Region XXIII event with 31 points, Meridian scored 22, and Gulf Coast had 21.  These three teams will advance to the national championships. 

Other results were as follows:  Itawamba -18, Hinds-10, Northwest-10, ECCC-3,  Northeast-2, Co-Lin-1 and Holmes-0.  At number one singles, Mallory Davis picked up two points in the quarterfinals, with a win over Holmes CC 6-1, 6-0 before losing to the number one seed, Krista Eely from ICC6-1, 6-3. At number two singles, Meridian’s Jennie Smith could not pull out the win over Hind’s Brittany DeCamp 7-5, 6-3, so MCC picked up no points at the two singles.  At number three singles, Meridian High graduate, Madison Gillette, picked up All-State and All-Region honors by taking the win in the championship match against Brenda Hegwood of Jones in three sets. At number four singles, freshman, Caroline Terry, pulled out a huge win in the semifinals against Jones County 6-1, 6-3 before falling to Gulf Coast in the finals.

At number five singles, sophomore, Molly Davis, made it to the finals with wins over Co-Lin and Gulf Coast before falling to JCJC in the finals.  At number six singles, Taylor White, who is definitely the most improved player on the season, picked up wins in the quarterfinals and semis to advance to the finals.  She lost in straight sets to sophomore, Brooke Martin, from Jones County.  Meridian’s duo of Mallory Davis/Jennie Smith was put out in the semifinals by the eventual champions, Krista Eely/Taylor Patterson from ICC.  They had a bye the first round and defeated Holmes to make it to the semis.  The two doubles team of Madison Gillette/Molly Davis had a bye the first round, defeated Northwest 6-1, 6-4 in the quarterfinals but lost to Buker/Rose in the semifinals.  At number three doubles, freshmen, Caroline Terry/Taylor White lost in the championship match to Jones County. 
       

The Meridian men placed a distant second behind Itawamba who took all courts except number three doubles when Jones County’s three doubles refused to let them have a clean sweep.  Itawamba placed first with 35 points, Meridian was second with 23, Jones County had 17, Northwest 12, Gulf Coast 11, CoLin 9, ECCC 3, Holmes 3, Northeast 3, and Hinds 0. In men’s play, Meridian’s Kevin Millet, who was seeded number one lost in the championship match to a player he had beaten on Monday, April 20.  Pinkney of ICC took the win over Millet.  Millet had won matches over Jones, and CoLin, a match that went three sets.  At two singles, TJ Carter, who had not played in the singles lineup until the last couple of matches, took a win over Hinds CC before falling to the number two seed, Joseph Shiedler, Northwest CC in the quarters.  At number three, Chris Mallette, a former West Lauderdale player, lost in the semis when he began to cramp in the second.  Chris was up 5-3 but lost the second set and then lost the third.  ICC won the third flight.  Judson Watson cruised to the finals with wins over Co-Lin 6-0, 6-1 and Jones 6-1, 6-0.  He won the first set over ICC but split sets. 

At number five singles, Meridian’s Reed Wade lost to ICC’s Joseph Summers in the finals.  The six singles, Christian Jackson fell to ICC’s Drew Ballard in the finals.  A turning point in the outcome came at number three doubles, when TJ Carter/Reed Wade were seeded four so faced the number one seed ICC in the quarterfinals.  Meridian lost but picked up two points with a win in the semis over Northeast.  Meridian’s number one doubles team of Kevin Millet/Chris Mallette cruised into the finals with wins over Co-Lin 6-0, 6-1 and Jones County 6-1, 6-0.  The duo fought hard but fell short to ICC’s McElwaine/Pinkney. 

The biggest surprise of the tournament was Meridian’s number two team, Judson Watson/Christian Jackson, who picked up the slack when put into the lineup two weeks before tournament time.  The defeated Northeast in the first round 6-2, 6-3.  They, then, pulled the biggest upset of the tournament with wins over Jones’ twos in three sets 1-6, 6-2, 6-2.  They defeated Northwest in the semis 6-4, 6-1.  They fell in the finals to ICC’s McElwain/Coins. Mark Easley of Jones County was selected the Region XXIII Coach of the year for the women, while Gary Bourgeois was voted as the MACJC Women’s Coach of the Year.  Paul Johnson of ICC received the Region XXIII and MACJC Men’s Coach of the Year honors
        

 Both teams will advance to the national tournament. The women’s tournament will be held in Tyler, Texas at Tyler Junior College May 3-9.  The men will travel to Plano, Texas May 10-16; the host site is Collin Community College.  
         

According to MCC head coach Wanda McPhail, “Both teams played extremely hard.  Unfortunately, several players had trouble with the heat as this year’s weather patterns did not allow players the opportunity to get used to the heat in matches that lasted sometimes over two hours.  We just did not win some of the matches we needed to to bring home the championships.  The players represented our school in a positive manner.”

MCC Golf Captures 2014 MACJC State Championship

From School Reports

The Meridian Community College golf team completed one of the more amazing comebacks Wednesday afternoon to win the 2014 MACJC State Championship at the Pine Burr Golf Course in Wiggins, MS that was hosted by Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College.

The Eagles erased a 10-stroke deficit in the final round of the tournament to win the championship by one stroke over Mississippi Gulf Coast. The Eagles shot a final round team score of 291 and finished the two-day event with a score of 606.

Nathan Kirkland earned a spot on the All-Tournament Team with a final round score of 72 which was good enough to give him a fourth place finish in the field. Connor Cavin had the lowest score in the second round for the Eagles with a 71 which placed him in a tie for 16^th place at the end of the event.

Ty Medling finished with a two-day total of 153 (79-74) for a tie in 12^th position, while Dallas Shepard ended the tournament with score of 154 (80-74). Austin Terrell ended Wednesday with a two-day total of 157 (79-78).

MCC Softball Wins 2014 Region 23 Championship

From School Reports

The Meridian Community College softball program made a little history on Wednesday afternoon at Tommy McDonald Field. The Lady Eagles haven't enjoyed much success over the past few years, but that all changed with its Region 23 doubleheader against Baton Rouge Community College. 

MCC scored a doubleheader sweep (9-0, 7-3) over the Lady Bears Wednesday afternoon to clinch the 2014 Division I Region 23 Championship. The Lady Eagles will now advance to the District Playoffs next month which will mark the first postseason appearance for the program since 2005.

Lyndsey Cannon continued to pitch well on the mound for the green and white by securing the shutout in Game One. Cannon was the winning pitcher, allowing only 1 hit in 5 innings. MCC finished the opening game with nine hits and were led by Paige Gipson and Chelsea Moore who both had three hits apiece. Shelby Peavey also had a solid game for the Lady Eagles with two base hits.

Lacey Hedrick was the winning pitcher in Game Two as MCC completed the sweep of the Lady Bears by a final count of 7-3.

MCC had 11 hits in Game Two and Casey Bolton led the team with a pair of base hits.

MCC Baseball Splits Saturday Set With BRCC

From School Reports

The Meridian Community Eagles closed out its three-game series with Baton Rouge Community College Saturday afternoon by splitting (5-2, 1-3) with the Bears.

MCC moved its record to 22-20 after winning the weekend series and is now 5-6 in Miss-Lou Conference play.

MCC will return to action next Saturday (April 26) for a road doubleheader at Wallace-Hanceville. The Eagles will take on Central Alabama at 2 p.m. and will finish the day by playing Wallace-Hanceville at 5 p.m.

The Eagles got a solid pitching performance in Game One by freshman Goose Yates to come away with a 5-2 victory. Yates worked eight innings, allowed no earned runs, and completed the game with six strikeouts. Former Clarkdale star Jonathan Porter earned the save which was the first of his career.

MCC finished Game One with 11 hits and Baton Rouge had for hits. Dalton Thomas, Scott Votaw, Mac Seibert, and Garrett Larosa each had two hits apiece in the victory. Former West Lauderdale star Grant Hill also added a two-run double, while Ben Gann had a base and an RBI.

MCC wasn't as fortunate in Game Two as BRCC avoided the sweep by winning 3-1.

Jake Smith took the pitching loss on the mound for MCC by working four innings and collecting six strikeouts.

The Eagles finished the game with six hits and BRCC had eight. Brooks Balisterri led the way with a pair of base hits, while Dalton Thomas had an RBI single.

MCC Baseball Opens Series With Win Over BRCC

From School Reports

The Meridian Community College Eagles entered its weekend series needing some conference wins to at least give itself a shot at winning the 2014 Miss-Lou Conference regular season title.

MCC scored an enormous 7-4 over Baton Rouge Community College Friday afternoon at Pete Goldsby Park to keep its hopes alive for the title.

The game between the two schools turned out to be a wild affair that saw extra innings and a nearly two-hour weather delay.

MCC scored three runs in he top of the 12th inning to take a 7-4 lead over the Bears. Ben Gann delivered the go-ahead RBI single that gave the Eagles a one-run edge. MCC scored two more runs in the frame on RBI singles by Mac Seibert and Baylor Obert to make the score 7-4 in favor of the green and white.

The game would be stopped moments later due to lightning in the area mixed with heavy rain that forced a delay for nearly two hours. MCC would eventually secure the victory as Obert took to the mound to record the final three outs for the save.

Bryant Johnston picked up the pitching win out of the bullpen for Meridian by tossing five innings, allowing no runs, one hit, and finishing with four strikeouts.

MCC had 17 hits at the plate and was led by Gann with four hits and two RBI's. Grant Hill and Kevin Hall each had three hits apiece, while Scott Votaw, Dalton Thomas, and Baylor Obert each had two hits apiece.

MCC improved to 21-19 overall and 4-5 in Miss-Lou Conference play, while Baton Rouge fell to 16-33 overall and 3-4 in league play.

The two teams were scheduled to play a doubleheader on Friday, but due to weather the series will now conclude with two games on Saturday.

The series will resume with a nine-inning game Saturday afternoon beginning at noon and the series will close with a seven-inning game later in the day.