By Staff
GET BACK! A Meridian Community College base runner gets back safely to first base during the Eagles' win over Jones. Photo by Don Hill / EMG
By Jeff Byrd / staff writer
April 8, 2002
ELLISVILLE The Meridian Community College baseball team caught Jones Junior College in a pitching bind on Sunday afternoon. When the dust settled, a string of six Bobcat pitchers had issued out 10 walks and four hit batsmen.
The result of Jones' wildness was a 15-4 romp by the Eagles in the first game of a 13-game road swing for MCC here at Bobcat Field.
Meridian head coach Mike Federico was glad to see his team take advantage of the Bobcats' free passes and was pleased his Eagles started the road tour on a good note.
Meridian will take a two-game win streak into today's single game against Shelton State at Tuscaloosa. MCC is now 14-20 on the season.
Jones, who had entered the weekend with the best record of the East Mississippi schools at 18-10, lost its third straight to fall to 18-13. The Bobcats were coming off an MACJC South Division double-header loss on Saturday at Hinds.
With another South Division doubleheader set for Tuesday against Copiah-Lincoln, Jones head coach Bobby Glaze was trying to save pitching.
The two teams were tied at 1-1 going to the third inning when Jones starter Mario Laphand out of Quitman issued a leadoff walk to Lance Dawkins. Then Adam Smith followed with a hit.
Nate Sanders scored Dawkins on a fly-ball to center and Smith came in on Brad McKee's bases-loaded walk, the fourth free pass in the half-inning.
Two more walks by Jones reliever Rob White set up Wes Shows and Dawkins to score in the fourth. Smith knocked one in on a sacrifice fly while Tyler Scarbrough smacked a double to right center to plate Dawkins. Scarbrough later scored on a hit by Brian Page to make it 6-1.
MCC would score three more in the fifth off three walks, a hit batsman and a two-run single by Smith to make it 9-1.
The game got out of hand in the sixth when the Eagles scored six times. Page led off with a single and Billy Porter had a double. An error, another hit and then two more hit batsmen blew the contest open.
Jones managed to score three runs in its final at bat against a wild Michael Goodson. The sophomore from Vicksburg walked two and hit two. Josh Sullivan had an RBI double to key the rally for the Bobcats.
For the game, Scarbrough went 3-for-5 and had three RBIs. Dawkins walked four times and scored four runs. Shows had two hits and three runs scored. Smith drove in three off two hits.
Page and Porter also had two hits for MCC. Doolittle moved to 4-2 on the season with the win, while Laphand took the loss to fall to 1-4.
Ricky Breazeale had two hits to pace Jones.