Baseball | 5/18/2017 11:09:00 PM
ELLISVILLE – Top-ranked Jones County Junior College responded in fine fashion from a tough, first-round loss in the Region 23 Tournament here on a hot Thursday afternoon at Community Bank Park.
The Bobcats pummeled East Central Community College, 21-2 in five innings. JCJC was coming off a 5-4, 10 inning loss to Pearl River on Wednesday night.
JCJC, 45-3, will now face No. 2 ranked LSU-Eunice at 3 p.m. Friday in another elimination game. LSU-Eunice defeated Northwest, 8-4. In Thursday's late game, Hinds defeated Pearl River 13-3 in six innings.
Northwest meets Hinds at noon Friday in an elimination game. The winner of that game will take on Hinds at 6 p.m.
The championship game is set for 1 p.m. Saturday with an 'if necessary' contest set for 1 p.m. Sunday.
The tournament winner goes to the NJCAA Division II World Series May 27-June 3 in Enid, Oklahoma.
Bobcats 21, Warriors 2
(5 innings)
Jones batted around three times, slugged 18 hits and took advantage of five errors, along with eight walks and four hit batsmen by Warrior pitching.
Starter
Logan Robbins (George County) was his usual solid self on the mound. He went five innings, allowed two runs (one earned), six hits, walked one and struck out five as he improved to 12-0.
The Bobcats took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning when
Fred Franklin (West Lauderdale) walked, stole second, went to third on a throwing error and scored on a single by
Shelton Wallace (Northwest Rankin). Wallace would later score on a passed ball.
In the second,
Hudson Harris (West Jones) was hit by a pitch and
Caleb Ledet's (Houma, Louisiana) groundout forced him at second. Franklin and Wallace were then hit by pitches to load the bases.
Erick Hoard (Brandon) followed with a two-run single and
Tanner Huddleston's (George County) RBI single made it 5-0.
ECCC got on the board in the bottom of the second when Cole Prestegard led off with a home run to center.
The Bobcats took command in the third when they sent 12 batters to the plate and scored eight runs.
Jacob Hiatt (Petal),
Luther Woullard (D'Iberville) and Ledet each singled and Franklin followed with an RBI single. Wallace had a two-run single and Hoard drew a walk. Huddleston and Parker then had back-to-back two-run doubles. Parker would later score on an error to make it 13-1.
ECCC got a run in the bottom of the third when Cooper Clement reached on an error, Luke Yancey singled and Billy Cameron delivered an RBI single.
Jones made it 14-2 in the fourth when Ledet led off with a single and was forced by Franklin. Wallace walked and Hoard singled to load the bases. Huddleston's infield hit scored Franklin.
The Bobcats sent 13 batters to the plate and scored seven runs in the fifth.
Hiatt led off by reaching on an error. Successive walks to Woullard, Harris, Ledet and Franklin plated two runs and Harris would score on a wild pitch. Hoard and
Tate Pepper (Ocean Springs) would get RBI singles and Woullard had a two-run single.
Huddleston had a double, two singles and three RBIs, while Hoard had three singles and three RBIs and Hiatt had three singles. Wallace, Woullard and Ledet each had two singles. Parker had a double with Franklin and Pepper getting singles.
In five plate appearances, Franklin singled, walked twice, was hit by a pitch, reached on a fielder's choice and scored five runs.
Yancey singled twice, Prestegard homered and Cameron, Brandon Clark and Clement added singles.
Payton Lee – the first of nine ECCC pitchers – went 1 2/3 innings and took the loss.
The Warriors end the year at 33-17.
Region 23 Tournament
Ellisville
Community Bank Park
Thursday's game
Jones County 21, East Central 2
(5 innings)
Jones County (45-3) 238 17 – 21 18 1
East Central (33-17) 011 00 – 2 6 5
Logan Robbins and
Jonathan Parker,
Tate Pepper (4). Payton Lee, Tanner Elders (2), Hagan Brown (3), Dylan Marsh (3), Brooks Warren (4), Cole Gray (5), Christian Bellew (5), Preston Krummel (5), Payton Griffin (5) and Zach Parker.
WP-Robbins (12-0).
LP-Lee.
JCJC hitters:
Tanner Huddleston 2B, 2 1B;
Erick Hoard 3 1B;
Jacob Hiatt 3 1B;
Shelton Wallace 2 1B;
Luther Woullard 2 1B;
Caleb Ledet 2 1B;
Jonathan Parker 2B;
Fred Franklin 1B;
Tate Pepper 1B.
ECCC hitters: Luke Yancey 2 1B; Cole Prestegard HR; Billy Cameron 1B; Brandon Clark 1B; Cooper Clement 1B.
LOB: JCJC-9; ECCC-5.
T-2:27.
Region 23 Tournament
Ellisville
Community Bank Park
Wednesday's results
Game 1, Hinds 6, LSU-Eunice 2
Game 2, Northwest 8, East Central 1
Game 3, Pearl River 5, Jones County 4 (10 innings)
Thursday's results
Game 4, Jones County 21, East Central 2 (5 innings)
Game 5, LSU-Eunice 8, Northwest 4
Game 6, Hinds 13, Pearl River 3 (6 innings)
Friday's games
Game 7, Northwest vs. Pearl River, noon
Game 8, Jones County vs. LSU-Eunice, 3 p.m.
Game 9, Hinds vs. Winner Game 7, 6 p.m.
Saturday's game
Game 10, Championship, Winner Game 8 vs. Winner Game 9, 1 p.m.
Sunday's game
Game 11, if necessary
IF THREE TEAMS REMAIN AFTER GAME 9
Saturday's game
Game 10, Winner Game 8 vs. Loser Game 9, 1 p.m.
Sunday's game
Game 11, Championship, Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 10, 1 p.m.
