ELLISVILLE –
Wyatt Blalock (Madison Central) gave No. 12 Jones College a solid start on the mound to pace the Bobcats to a 9-3 victory over East Central in game two of a doubleheader here Wednesday evening at Community Bank Park.
It was the first loss of the season for the Warriors in MACCC play.
The Bobcats bounced back nicely after an opening-game, 20-3 loss in five innings.
Jones is now 13-9 overall and 6-2 in the conference. The Bobcats will travel to Northeast Mississippi for a 3 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday, March 13.
East Central, 10-6 and 7-1, and will host Itawamba on Saturday.
Game 2 – Jones 9, East Central 3
Blalock went 5.2 innings and got the win to improve to 3-2. He gave up no earned runs, five hits, walked three and struck out five.
Garrett Langrell (Bay) earned his third save, pitching 1.1 innings, walking one and allowing no hits.
The Bobcats trailed 2-0 entering the bottom of the second inning when
Brady Wilson (Parklane Academy) entered as a pinch-hitter and led off with a single.
Kade Keeton (Brandon) reached on an error and
Garrett Clendenning (Biloxi) sacrificed and reached on error, which allowed Wilson to score.
Andrew Howard (South Jones) drew a walk to load the bases and
Hunter French (DeSoto Central) drove in a run to with a sacrifice fly to tie the game at 2-2.
Murray Hutchinson's (Madison Central) single up the middle scored two runs to make it 4-2. Hutchinson stole second, advanced to third on a passed ball and scored on a wild pitch to give Jones a 5-2 lead.
After the Warriors made it 5-3 in the fourth, the Bobcats got some insurance with a four-run sixth.
Clendenning led off with a single, Howard reached on a bunt single and French sacrificed the runners. Hutchinson was intentionally walked to load the bases.
DeeJay Booth's (Oak Grove) single to center drove in a run and
Preston Ratliff (Slidell, Louisiana) reached on an error which allowed another to score. Wilson then followed with a two-run single.
Wilson and Clendenning had two hits each for the Bobcats.
East Central starter Roper Ball went 4.0 innings, allowed five runs (none earned), four hits, walked three and struck out three. He took the loss and is now 2-1.
Game 1 – East Central 20, Jones 3 (5 inn)
The Warriors scored multiple runs in each inning of the opener.
East Central had 11 hits and took advantage of seven Jones' errors, six walks and five hit batsmen.
The Warriors led 3-0 after an inning, 6-0 after two, 8-3 after three and 13-3 after four.
Hutchinson tripled and singled, Ratliff singled twice and Booth doubled for Jones.
Starter
Zach Flaskamp (Southeast Lauderdale) – the first of five Bobcat pitchers – went 1.1 innings and got the loss. He gave up six runs (five earned), four hits, walked three and struck out three to fall to 1-1.
Clayton Cook and Amari Larry each doubled and singled for the Warriors. Cook had three RBIs with Conner Hicks, Kade Turnage and R.J. Fletcher getting two RBIs each.
Hayden West (3-0) – the second of three ECCC pitchers - tossed 2.0 innings and was credited with the win. He allowed one run (unearned), one hit, walked none and struck out two.
