Baseball | 5/20/2017 12:12:00 AM
ELLISVILLE – Three Southern Miss signees helped top-ranked Jones County Junior College eliminate No. 2 LSU-Eunice in the Region 23 Tournament here Friday afternoon at Community Bank Park.
Erick Hoard (Brandon) belted a grand slam,
Fred Franklin (West Lauderdale) hit a solo shot and
Mason Strickland (South Jones) went the distance as the future Golden Eagle trio helped Bobcats whip the Bengals 10-2 in 7 innings.
JCJC, 46-3, will now face Hinds Community College for the regional championship.
The Bobcats and Eagles are scheduled to square off at 1 p.m. Saturday. If JCJC wins that game, another contest is set for 1 p.m. Sunday. The games will air on
www.jcjc.tv.
The Eagles eliminated Pearl River 11-3 Friday night. Earlier, Pearl River had ousted Northwest 10-8 in 10 innings.
The Region 23 champion will head to Enid, Oklahoma, for the NJCAA Division II World Series May 27-June 3.
The Bobcats scored six runs in the second inning, all with two outs.
Jonathan Parker (New Orleans, Louisiana) led off with a single. With two outs,
Hudson Harris (West Jones),
Caleb Ledet (Houma, Louisiana),
Fred Franklin (West Lauderdale) and
Shelton Wallace (Northwest Rankin) drew consecutive walks to force in two runs.
Hoard then stepped up and smashed his 14
th home run of the season to give the Bobcats a 6-0 lead.
Franklin led off the bottom of the fourth with his eighth roundtripper of the year to make it 7-0.
The Bobcats made it 9-0 in the bottom of the fifth.
Jacob Hiatt (Petal) led off with a walk and
Luther Woullard (D'Iberville) followed with an RBI double to left. Harris then delivered an RBI single.
The Bengals got on the board in the sixth when Gavin Bourgeious and Braden Comeaux singled. Michael Claverie's sacrifice fly to left scored Bourgeious.
LSU-Eunice added a run in the seventh when Brent Hebert singled, Cameron Horton doubled and Koi Westbrook walked to load the bases with no outs. Bo Myers hit a sacrifice fly to left to make it 9-2, but Strickland recorded a fly out and a pop up to prevent any further damage.
JCJC ended the game in the bottom of the seventh when Ledet walked and Franklin and Wallace each singled to load the bases. Hoard then drew a walk to force Ledet home.
Strickland went seven innings, allowed two runs, seven hits, walked one and struck out three. He is now 11-1 on the season.
Franklin homered and singled, while
Tanner Huddleston (George County) doubled and singled. Wallace and Parker had two singles each. Hoard homered and drove in five runs. Woullard had a double, while Harris and Ledet added singles.
Clay Moffitt, the first of five LSU-Eunice pitchers, took the loss. He lasted 1 2/3 innings, allowed five runs, only two hits and walked five. Hunter Joubert, Michael Brawner, Micah McHugh and Justin Barton also pitched.
Bourgeois singled twice, while Horton doubled. Comeaux, Claverie, Hebert and Myers added singles.
The Bengals end the year at 46-11.
