Rain continues to play havoc on the home baseball schedule for East Central Community College, but the Warriors found Stanley James Baseball Park on the campus of Coastal Alabama-South to their liking in picking up their first sweep of the season Tuesday, March 12, in Bay Minette, Ala.
East Central beat the Coastal Alabama-South Sun Chiefs 8-6 in the nine-inning opener and then followed that with an 11-9 seven-inning win in game two.
The games were originally scheduled to be played at Clark-Gay Baseball Complex in Decatur, but were moved due to wet field conditions.
With the sweep, East Central is now 7-7 on the season. The NJCAA Division I Coastal Alabama-South Sun Chiefs are 10-9.
East Central pushed out to a 7-0 lead in game one, before holding off a late run by the Sun Chiefs.
The big inning for the Warriors was the top of the fourth when four runs crossed the plate. Sophomore catcher Alex Hay (Lewisburg) doubled in two runs and sophomore third baseman George Farid (Mississauga, Ontario, Canada) and sophomore second baseman Anderson Shelley (Greenville, Washington School) both had RBI singles.
Freshman first baseman Cameron Cotten (George County) doubled in two runs in the third, while sophomore right fielder Ken Scott (Clarkdale) drove in East Central's first run in the first inning.
Sophomore right-hander Thomas Boothe (Fairhope, Ala., Bayside Academy) picked up the win with five innings of work. He gave up three hits and two runs, while striking out seven batters. Four Warrior pitchers struck out 12 Sun Chiefs in the game.
In game two, the two teams combined for 20 hits and 20 runs. The Warriors broke a 4-4 tie with five runs in the top of the fourth inning to take a 9-4 lead and then held on for the 11-9 win.
East Central had three multiple run innings. In a three-run top of the second, sophomore shortstop Jay Johnston (Lake) drove in a run with a sacrifice fly and sophomore left fielder Ryan Cupit (West Monroe, La.) drove in two runs with a line drive single to center field.
In a five-run top of the fourth, Scott and Hay drew back-to-back bases loaded walks to score two runs, freshman center fielder Dakota Kennedy (Choctaw Central) drove in a run with a single, one run came across on a balk, and another scored on a fielder's choice off the bat of Cotten.
East Central's other runs in the game came on a first inning RBI single by Scott, and a Kennedy sacrifice fly and a passed ball in the sixth.
Freshman right-hander Tanner Knight of Eupora picked up the win by pitching the first five innings.
For the two games, Scott had five hits to lead East Central, while Cupit and Anderson had four each. Shelley scored five runs on the day, and the Warriors stole six bases. East Central pitchers struck out 19 batters.
MACJC league play for East Central begins Saturday, March 16, when the Warriors face Holmes in a doubleheader in Goodman beginning at 1 p.m.
The Warriors will play their home opener on Tuesday, March 19, when Gulf Coast visits the Clark-Gay Baseball Complex in Decatur. The doubleheader begins at 3 p.m.
East Central will host Mississippi Delta for a pair of games beginning at 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 23.
Most East Central home baseball games can be heard on WKOZ "Cruisin" 98.3 or watched via live stream video at www.eccc.edu/eccc-media.