MCC Defeats ECCC on Late Homer

From School Reports

The Meridian Community College Eagles had to dig down deep in the late innings on Friday night at Scaggs Field in the opening round of the MACJC playoffs against East Central Community College. The Warriors led for the entire game, but in the bottom of the eighth inning things changed quickly in the favor of the home team. Sophomore Dalton Thomas smashed a two-run home run over the wall in center field to propel MCC to a dramatic 7-6 victory over East Central.

The victory gives the green and white a 1-0 lead in the three-game series against the Warriors with Game Two taking place on Saturday. The first pitch of Game Two between the two schools is set for 2 p.m. and an if necessary game will follow if ECCC defeats MCC in Game Two. MCC improved to 32-14 with the victory and also snapped a modest three-game losing streak, while East Central dropped to 25-15 overall for the season.

Sophomore Bryant Johnston (9-1) had another solid outing for the Eagles from the bullpen by pitching 5 2/3 innings and collecting four strikeouts to grab the pitching win. Joshua Carpenter suffered the loss out of the bullpen for East Central after surrendering the home run in the eighth inning to Thomas.

Goose Yates led the way at the plate with three hits and one came on a solo home run in the fifth inning. Thomas finished with a pair of hits and of course with one winning the game in the eighth inning for the Eagles. Kyle Bayles chipped in with a pair of hits and one was an RBI single, while Matt Berler collected a pair of singles in the one-run victory.

MCC finished the game with 11 hits and East Central closed the night out with 12 total hits.