Baseball | 5/21/2017 8:08:00 AM

ELLISVILLE – The 2017 season ended for top-ranked Jones County Junior College here Saturday night at Community Bank Park.
Hinds broke a 7-7 tie with a run in the top of the eighth inning and held on to beat the defending national champion Bobcats 8-7 in the Region 23 Tournament championship game.
Hinds will advance to the NJCAA Division II World Series May 27-June 3 in Enid, Oklahoma.
The Bobcats end the year at 46-4. Hinds is now 34-16.
It was a wild, back and forth contest that had five lead changes and started almost four hours late because of rain.
Hinds took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning when Braedon Barrett hit a one-out, solo home run.
JCJC came right back and took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the first.
With two outs, Erick Hoard (Brandon) singled stole second and scored on Tanner Huddleston's (George County) single. After Jonathan Parker (New Orleans, Louisiana) was hit by a pitch, Jacob Hiatt (Petal) followed with an RBI single to left.
The Bobcats went ahead 4-1 in the second when Hudson Harris (West Jones), Caleb Ledet (Houma, Louisiana) and Fred Franklin (West Lauderdale) walked to load the base. Shelton Wallace (Northwest Rankin) hit into a double play to score Harris and Ledet would score on a wild pitch.
But the Eagles bounced back with a four-run, third inning.
Acy Owen led off with a single and Will Craft was hit by a pitch. With two outs, Staton Todd singled to score Owen. Quinton Logan walked to load the bases and Will Pierce walked to force a run home. Kyle Schimpf followed with a two-run single to make it 5-4.
The Bobcats regained the lead in the fifth.
Huddleston and Parker singled and advanced on a groundout by Hiatt. Huddleston scored on a passed ball and an error allowed Parker to score and give Jones a 6-5 lead.
Owen then led off the sixth with a home run to tie the game at 6-6. Craft reached on a two-base error, took third on a passed ball and scored on Jackson Mitchell's double.
JCJC tied the game at 7-7 in the bottom of the sixth when Ledet doubled and scored on a Wallace single.
Hinds scored what proved to be the winning run in the top of the eighth.
Barrett led off with a double and went to third on a single by Todd. Logan reached on an infield hit, but Barrett had to stay at third on the play.
Pierce's fielder's choice groundout to third allowed Barrett to score.
In the bottom of the eighth, Ledet and Wallace singled. With two outs, Hoard flied out to the warning track in rightfield.
The Bobcats were retired in order in the bottom of the ninth.
Ledet doubled and singled for JCJC with Wallace, Huddleston and Parker getting two singles each. Hoard and Hiatt added singles.
Reed Michel (West Lauderdale) was the starter. He went 2 2/3 innings, allowed five runs, three hits, walked three and struck out four. Bryce Fagan (Petal) went 2 1/3 innings, allowed two runs (one earned), four hits, walked one and struck out three. Tristan Labove (Petal) pitched 2 1/3 innings and was charged with the loss. He gave up one run, five hits, walked one and struck out two. Will Freeman (Semmes, Alabama) pitched 1 2/3 innings, allowed no runs, one hit, walked two and struck out three.
Owen homered and singled twice for Hinds, while Barrett homered and doubled. Mitchell double and singled with Todd and Schimpf getting two singles each. Craft and Logan added singles.
Logan – the fifth and final pitcher for the Eagles – got the win. He gave up no runs, two hits, walked one and struck out three. Todd, Layne Tedder, Brandon Ross and Colin Coates also pitched.
 

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 results
Game 7, Pearl River 10, Northwest 8 (10 innings)
Game 8, Jones County 10, LSU-Eunice 2 (7 innings)
Game 9, Hinds 11, Pearl River 3
Saturday's result
Game 10, Hinds 8, Jones County 7
Hinds wins championship and advances to NJCAA Division II World Series in Enid, Oklahoma