Baseball | 5/11/2019 11:20:00 AM
ELLISVILLE – The 5
th-ranked Jones College Bobcats are headed to the Region 23 Tournament.
The Bobcats made quick work of the Hinds Eagles Friday afternoon in Game 3 of their Best-of-3 playoff series. Jones defeated Hinds 11-0 in five innings.
Earlier, the Eagles beat the Bobcats 6-4 in Game 2 of the series. That game was resumed in the eighth inning after heavy rain and lightning suspended play Thursday afternoon at Community Bank Park. Jones won Game 1 on Wednesday, 10-4.
The Bobcats, 37-10, will now advance to regional play at Itawamba Community College in Fulton. It is scheduled for May 15-18. Jones is set to play at 3:30 p.m. on May 15.
The Indians earned the right to host after claiming the MACJC regular season title. Jones, Itawamba, LSU-Eunice and Pearl River have qualified for the six-team, double-elimination tournament.
Currently, Northwest and Northeast are tied 1-1 and Mississippi Gulf Coast leads Meridian 1-0 in their respective Best-of-3 series.
The winner of the Region 23 Tournament will advance to the NJCAA Division II World Series May 25-June 1 in Enid, Oklahoma.
Game 3
Jones College 11, Hinds 0
(5 innings)
Freshman
Coleton Ausbern (Nettelton) shut down the Eagles and the Bobcats banged out 12 hits in the run-rule shortened game that lasted just an hour and 27 minutes.
Ausbern, 8-0, allowed just a two-out fourth-inning single by Walker Burchfield, walked none and struck out three.
The Bobcats scored in each of its four at-bats.
Trace Henry (Mooreville) walked to lead off the bottom of the first and
Robbie Woody (Madison Central) followed with a single. With two outs,
Blake Johnson (Gulfport) was hit by a pitch to load the bases and Henry would then score on a wild pitch.
In the second inning,
Jake Mason (West Lauderdale) and
Chase Tilghman (West Lauderdale) led off with singles. With two outs, Woody singled to left to score Mason.
Bailee Hendon (Vancleave) followed with a two-run single to make it 4-0.
The Bobcats would send 10 batters to the plate and score five runs in the third.
Brandon Hale (Pontotoc) led off with a double off the wall in center and would score when
Gabe Lacy (Gulfport) singled to center. Tilghman then launched his first home of the year, a two-run shot to center to make it 7-0.
Henry was hit by a pitch and Woody followed with his third hit of the game, a double to place runners at second and third. Hendon then had an RBI single to score Henry and Woody would later score on a throwing error.
Mason led off the bottom of the fourth with a mammoth home run to left. Tilghman doubled and would later score on another error.
Woody had two singles and a double with Tilghman getting a home run and a double and Mason getting a home run and a single. Hendon and Lacy each had two singles and Hale had a double. Hendon finished with three RBIs.
Starter Harrison Haley lasted 1.2 innings and took the loss. He gave up four runs, five hits, two walks and had two strikeouts. Austin Booth, Matthew Taylor and Landon Tomkins also pitched for Hinds.
The Eagles end the season at 26-20.
Game 2
Hinds 6, Jones College 4
A grand slam by Josh Cofield in the second inning was the difference in the game.
The Bobcats had taken a 1-0 in the bottom of the first when Woody singled, took second on a ground out and scored on a single by Johnson.
In the top of the second, Colby Collier and Jake Smithart singled and CJ Keckler singled to drive in a run. Jovante Dorris reached on an infield single to load the bases and Cofield followed with a grand slam to right to make it 5-1.
The Bobcats got a run back in the bottom of the inning when Mason doubled, took third on a ground out and scored on a sacrifice fly to center by Tilghman.
Jones pulled within 5-4 in the third.
Woody and Hendon singled and
O'Neill Burgos (Brookhaven Academy) drove in a run with a ground out. Johnson followed with an RBI single.
It remained that way until the top of the eighth.
Keckler led off with a single and then the rains hit. The game was suspended on Thursday afternoon and resumed on Friday.
A two-out double by Burchfield drove in Keckler to give the Eagles a 6-4 lead.
The Bobcats got a single in the bottom of the eighth, but nothing else, and they were retired in order in the bottom of the ninth.
Johnson had three singles for Jones with Woody getting two singles. Mason had a double with Henry, Hendon and Lacy adding singles.
Starter
Cooper Brune (Ocean Springs) went 3.1 innings and got the loss. He allowed five runs, nine hits, walked none and struck out one.
Hunter Eldridge (West Lauderdale) pitched 3.2 innings, giving up an unearned run, two hits, one walk and notching four strikeouts.
Payton Harris (Oak Grove pitched the final 2.0 innings, allowing no runs, one hit and notching a strikeout.
Cofield homered, doubled and singled for the Eagles with Dorris and Keckler each getting two singles. Burchfield double and Connor Carter, Collier, John Bolton and Smithart adding singles.
Starter Josh Banes went 6.0 innings and got the win. He allowed four runs, seven hits, walked one and struck out two. Garrett Ramsey tossed the final three innings and got the save. He gave up no runs, two hits, walked none and struck out one.
Region 23 Best-of-3
Friday's games
Ellisville
Community Bank Park
Game 2
Hinds 6, Jones College 4
Hinds (26-19) 050 000 010 – 6 12 0
Jones College (36-10) 112 000 000 – 4 9 4
Josh Banes, Garrett Ramsey (7) and CJ Keckler.
Cooper Brune,
Hunter Eldridge (4),
Payton Harris (8) and
Chase Tilghman.
WP-Banes.
LP-Brune (5-3).
Sv-Ramsey.
Hinds hitters: Josh Cofield HR, 2B, 1B; Jovante Dorris 2 1B; CJ Keckler 2 1B; Walker Burchfield 2B; Connor Carter 1B; Colby Collier 1B; John Bolton 1B; Jake Smithart 1B.
JC hitters:
Blake Johnson 3 1B;
Robbie Woody 2 1B;
Jake Mason 2B;
Trace Henry 1B;
Bailee Hendon 1B;
Gabe Lacy 1B.
LOB:Hinds-10; JC-5.
T:2:41.
Game 3
Jones College 11, Hinds 0
Hinds (26-20) 000 00 – 0 1 2
Jones College (37-10). 135 2x – 11 12 1
Harrison Haley, Austin Booth (2), Matthew Taylor (3), Landon Tomkins (4) and CJ Keckler.
Coleton Ausbern and
Chase Tilghman.
WP-Ausbern (8-0).
LP-Haley.
Hinds hitters:Walker Burchfield 1B.
JC hitters:Robbie Woody 2B, 2 1B;
Chase Tilghman HR, 2B;
Jake Mason HR, 1B;
Bailee Hendon 2 1B;
Gabe Lacy 2 1B;
Brandon Hale 2B.
LOB:Hinds-2; JC-7.
T:1:27.
