.jpg "Image") EMCC freshman Weston Wallace has become the first golfer in school history to earn the MACJC’s coveted Hubert Tucker Award for posting the state’s lowest scoring average during the regular season.
A former all-state linkster at Northwest Rankin High School, Wallace claimed the coveted honor by firing a season-best 69 to capture individual medalist honors during final-round action of this past week’s fourth MACJC spring event, hosted by EMCC at the Mississippi State University Golf Course. As an automatic MACJC All-State First Team selection, Wallace becomes the first golfer in EMCC history to win an official MACJC golf event with the help of one of the best one-round scores ever posted on the school’s all-time leader board.
“This is a tremendous honor for Weston to be able to accomplish something that no other EMCC golfer has been able to do in school history,” EMCC golf coach Dale Peay noted. “He’s had a very consistent and steady year as a freshman, and he is on one of those hot streaks right now for us. Weston is a very competitive young man who strives to succeed in whatever he attempts, whether it’s on the golf course, in the classroom, or playing pickup basketball with his teammates.”
Finishing the regular season with a state-best 75.75 stroke average on the year, Wallace had to come from behind in becoming the first player in EMCC history to claim the state’s stroke average leader award, named in honor of a former Northeast Mississippi CC football coach killed in an 1995 automobile accident. Entering the regular season’s fourth and final MACJC event (April 3-4 in Starkville) in third place among the state’s scoring average leaders, Wallace rebounded from an opening-round 77 with his 2-under-par 69 to win the event title by two strokes. His final-round 69 – the second-lowest 18-hole total among MACJC golfers this season – enabled Wallace to edge Copiah-Lincoln’s Bennett Ruschewski by four strokes for the year’s MACJC scoring average title.
As the recipient of this year’s Hubert Tucker Award, Wallace also garners an automatic invitation to compete in next month’s NJCAA National Golf Championship, slated for May 17-20 at Goose Pond Colony in Scottsboro, Ala. The Brandon native will become the second EMCC participant in three years to compete in the NJCAA Championship, joining 2009 MACJC All-State Second Team honoree and former Caledonia High School product Hal Larkin.
East Mississippi CC has now had MACJC All-State First Team golf selections each of the last two seasons. A year ago, EMCC’s Michael Lauseng settled for runner-up honors for the 2010 Hubert Tucker Award after having maintained the state lead in scoring average heading into the final day of regular-season competition before giving way to Itawamba’s Alex Rowland.
This week’s MACJC State Golf Championship, hosted by Holmes Community College, will take place Monday and Tuesday (April 11-12) at Deerfield Country Club in Canton.
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 09 April 2011 )
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BOONEVILLE – Pounding out 31 hits on the afternoon, the Lions of East Mississippi Community College claimed a road doubleheader sweep over division foe Northeast Mississippi, 17-7 and 8-2, Wednesday afternoon at Harold T. White Field.
With 20 hits in the opener, the Lions used a nine-run fourth inning to break a 5-5 tie and break open the contest. After leading off the game with his second home run of the year, sophomore Tyler Aldridge got things rolling in the fourth with his first of two doubles in the inning. The Lions had seven hits in the frame and sent 13 batters to the plate in matching their highest single-game run total of the year in the fourth inning alone.
A former Caledonia High School product, Aldridge paced EMCC’s offensive explosion in the first game with a 4-for-6 effort at the plate, which also included four runs batted in and four runs scored along with his leadoff homer and pair of doubles. Mitch Bohon, Zane Migues, Tyler Bonaventure and Brett Tortorich all had three hits apiece for the Lions in the opener, while Antwan Ratcliff added two triples in the contest.
On the mound, EMCC sophomore right-hander Justin Pritchett improved his mark to 2-3 on the year, giving up just two runs on four hits in four innings of middle relief for starter Will Edwards. Edwards pitched into the third inning, allowing a run in the first and four more in the second before giving way to Pritchett.
While EMCC’s hot bats provided the story line in the first game, Blake Hutcheson’s complete-game pitching performance made headlines for the Lions in the nightcap. The freshman left-hander from Saltillo limited the home-standing Tigers to just five hits – four singles and a double - over seven innings of work to raise his season record to 2-5. Northeast’s runs came in the final two innings.
Adding 11 hits in the second game, the Lions had four players with multiple-hit outings. Bonaventure, a freshman from Brusly, La., had three more hits in the nightcap to total six on the day. Tortorich, Alex Chick and Noah Greer all followed with two hits apiece.
Improving to 10-21 overall on the season, but 8-4 within the MACJC’s North Division, the EMCC Lions travel to Fulton to take on Itawamba CC in a key Saturday doubleheader against the Indians. First pitch is set for 3 p.m. at ICC’s Crubaugh Field.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 07 April 2011 )
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.jpg "Image") EMCC sophomore guard Deonte Alexander has been named NJCAA Honorable Mention All-American after helping lead head coach Mark White’s 25-5 EMCC Lions to a second straight NJCAA Tournament appearance and back-to-back MACJC North Division championships.(Photo courtesy of Bob Smith)
A product of Glencliff High School in Nashville, Tenn., Alexander was a two-year starter for head coach Mark White’s nationally-ranked EMCC Lions. The 6-foot-1, 185-pound backcourt standout helped lead East Mississippi to two-year composite records of 52-12 overall and 22-2 in league play, including two straight NJCAA Tournament appearances along with back-to-back NJCAA Region 23 titles and consecutive MACJC North Division regular-season crowns.
During his two-year EMCC career, Alexander totaled 952 career points (14.9 ppg), 228 rebounds (3.6 rpg), 183 assists (2.9 apg) and 100 steals (1.6 spg) in 64 career outings (62 starts). He also posted career shooting percentages of 43 percent overall from the field, 35 percent from three-point range (157 career made 3-pointers) and 61 percent from the charity stripe. For his regular-season and postseason efforts, Alexander was twice named to the MACJC’s All-North State First Team and the NJCAA Region 23 All-Tournament Team.
This past season, Alexander earned 2010-11 NJCAA All-Region 23 honors after leading the 25-5 EMCC Lions in scoring (17.0 ppg), made 3-pointers (91) and steals (52). He also averaged 3.2 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.7 steals per contest as a sophomore, while shooting 45 percent from the field, 37 percent from the arc and 63 percent from the line. Alexander scored 20 or more points 11 times this past year, including a career-high 32 points on 12-of-19 shooting overall and 8-of-14 accuracy from three-point range.
Having also participated in this year’s MACJC All-Star Game, Alexander ranks as one of three honorees from Mississippi-based schools to collect All-American basketball recognition this season. Raymond Cintron, of Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, was chosen to the second team, while Copiah-Lincoln’s Marcus Hooten also garnered honorable mention status.
This season also marks the third straight year that East Mississippi CC has featured a basketball All-American. Starkville’s CoCo Ware was a first-team men’s selection for the 2009-10 campaign, while Angelique Burtts earned third-team women’s honors for head coach Sharon Thompson’s Lady Lions in 2008-09.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 06 April 2011 )
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SCOOBA – The front-running Lady Lions of East Mississippi Community College maintained their cushion atop the MACJC North Division softball standings by sweeping Northeast Mississippi, 6-4 and 7-2, Tuesday afternoon at the EMCC Softball Field.
In addition to improving their division-leading record to 12-2, head coach Kate Neely’s EMCC Lady Lions also went over the .500 mark on the year at 16-15 with the twinbill sweep of the visiting Lady Tigers.
In the opener, East Mississippi quickly pushed across three runs in the bottom of the first inning on consecutive bases-loaded infield singles from Lainie Simcox and Nashedra Barry followed by a run-scoring groundout off the bat of Courtney Castleberry. After Northeast reached EMCC starter Amy Johnson for three runs in the third, Simcox’s two-run home run to left-center field in the home half broke the 3-3 tie.
A freshman third baseman from Southeast Lauderdale, Simcox added another infield single in the fifth for her seventh consecutive hit in as many at-bats over two games. She previously went 4-for-4 in Saturday's come-from-behind 7-4 nightcap win at Northwest Mississippi.
Simcox would score on Castleberry’s sacrifice fly in the fifth to push the EMCC lead to 6-3, but the visitors rallied in the seventh inning and brought the potential-tying run to the plate. After leading off the frame with a double, Raleigh Downs scored on Nicki Whitten’s one-out double to right field. However, Johnson settled down to retire the next two batters to earn the complete-game victory for the Lady Lions.
A freshman right-hander from Starks, La., Johnson surrendered four runs on nine hits, while fanning two and walking just one, in raising her record to 11-8 on the season.
In the nightcap, the Lady Lions touched Northeast pitcher Jazmin Smith for seven runs on seven hits while batting around in the second inning. Simcox capped EMCC’s scoring with a three-run line-drive homer off the scoreboard in left-center field for her team-leading sixth round-tripper of the campaign.
With Barry in the circle for East Mississippi in the second contest, the Lady Tigers tallied an unearned run in the third inning and added another score in the seventh with the aid of a pair of EMCC errors. A sophomore right-hander from Columbus High School, Barry allowed two runs on just four hits, while striking out four and not issuing a walk, in going the distance and upping her record to 5-1 on the year.
Offensively in the nightcap, the Lady Lions evenly distributed nine hits throughout the lineup after having 10 hits in the opening game. On the day, Simcox led the way by going 4-for-6 at the plate with two home runs, six runs batted in and three runs scored. Barry followed with three singles during the doubleheader, while sophomore shortstop Mallory Pace, of Northeast Lauderdale, walked three times in the second game after going 2-for-4 in the opener.
After stepping out of division play with a Wednesday doubleheader at Southwest Tennessee CC, the Lady Lions will venture to Fulton for a key divisional twinbill against Itawamba on Monday (April 11).
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 06 April 2011 )
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.jpg "Image") EMCC freshman Weston Wallace fired a final-round 69 to claim individual medalist honors and help lead the Lions to a third-place team finish at this week’s MACJC golf event held at the MSU Golf Course in Starkville.
A former all-state golfer at Northwest Rankin High School, Wallace jumped from a sixth-place tie after Sunday’s opening round 77 by carding a 2-under-par 69 Monday to claim his first collegiate title. Wallace’s two-day total of 146 was two strokes better than Jared Smith of Mississippi Gulf Coast (74-74—148) and Copiah-Lincoln’s Berry Givens (75-73—148). The Brandon native has now collected all-tournament team honors in three of this year’s four spring events.
As a team, head coach Dale Peay’s EMCC Lions stayed in the hunt for the team title during the entire two-day event played at the 6,521-yard, par-71 MSU layout. After being tied for second place with three-time defending NJCAA Region 23 champion Mississippi Gulf Coast following Sunday’s 315 team score, EMCC battled the Bulldogs until the final hole before falling one stroke shy of the runner-up position with a second-day score of 297.
For the second straight tournament, the Rangers of Northwest Mississippi CC maintained their first-place advantage throughout the event by adding a 295 to Sunday’s 311 team score to post their five-stroke victory (606-611) over MGCCC. With the top four teams being separated by just 11 strokes, Copiah-Lincoln finished in fourth place at 617 (316-301) over the two days.
Also for the Lions, sophomore Ian McAdams, a Madison Central product, and freshman Bobby Bowlin, also of Northwest Rankin, placed 12th and 13th, respectively, with two-round totals of 154 (79-75) and 155 (78-77). Rounding out EMCC’s scorecard this week were freshmen Andrew Spiers (Pearl River Central HS) and Tyler Slocum (DeSoto Central HS), who finished tied for 18th (81-76—157) and 31st (85-78—163), respectively.
Both competing as individuals this week for EMCC, sophomore Jackson Bryant (Trinity Episcopal Day School) earned a seventh-place tie (80-72—152) with three other golfers, while Caledonia’s Zac Taylor finished tied for 34th (83-81—164).
The East Mississippi golf team now prepares for next week’s (April 11-12) MACJC State Championship to be hosted by Holmes Community College at Deerfield Country Club in Canton. The 2011 NJCAA Region 23 Championship, hosted by Itawamba CC, will then be held May 1-2 at River Birch Golf Club in Amory.
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Last Updated ( Monday, 04 April 2011 )
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