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FULTON -- Taking on the division leader on the road, the visiting Lady Lions of East Mississippi Community College absorbed hard-fought 3-2 and 5-3 setbacks to Itawamba Community College in MACJC North Division softball action Wednesday afternoon on the ICC campus.
In the opener, EMCC bounced back after allowing an unearned run in the opening frame to score a pair of runs in the second inning. Following consecutive groundouts to the pitcher to start the inning, Logan Bozeman and Stevie Wilson sparked the two-out rally with back-to-back singles. After both runners moved up on a wild pitch, sophomore first baseman Cory Roberson, a former Clarkdale product, stroked a clutch, two-run single to center field to give the visitors a 2-1 lead.
An inning later, the Lady Indians knotted the score at 2-2 when Kami Roberts was hit by a pitch, moved over on a single by Anna Holley and then scored on a wild pitch thrown by EMCC starting pitcher Misty Richard. ICC would take a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the fifth on three straight hits to open the inning. However, Richard was able to work her way out of trouble by leaving the bases loaded after a pair of strikeouts and a long fly ball to left field by Courtney Dawson.
With momentum seemingly on their side after allowing just the one run in the fifth, the Lady Lions promptly loaded the bases themselves with one out in the sixth. After Haley Tutor, Paige Sheppard and Allison Hauer all reached base on singles, ICC starting pitcher Kristyn Atkins got Bozeman to ground to third, forcing out Tutor at home plate. Wilson then popped up to the shortstop to thwart the rally.
Though falling to 3-6 in the circle on the year, Richard, a West Lauderdale product, pitched well in defeat, allowing the three runs on just five hits while striking out seven and walking three.
Out-hitting Itawamba, 8-5, in the opener, EMCC was led at the plate by Roberson, who added a fifth-inning single to go 2-for-3 in game one.
In the nightcap, the Lady Lions couldn’t quite recover from ICC’s five-run third inning and spent the rest of the game trying to play catch-up. Batting around in the inning, the Lady Indians reached EMCC starting pitcher Shelby Sheppard for those five runs on four singles and a pair of walks.
To their collective credit, the visitors fought back and steadily chipped away at the five-run deficit. EMCC posted solo tallies in the fourth and fifth frames off ICC starting pitcher Rebecca Sloan. Bozeman’s bases-loaded single in the fourth plated a run, though the Lady Lions left the bags full after back-to-back pop-ups in the infield to end the inning. On the way to a 3-for-4 effort at the plate in game two, Quitman product Stormy Lewis doubled home Paige Sheppard in the fifth to make it a 5-2 contest.
The visitors had one more opportunity to get back in the game in the top of the seventh. Amber Spann got things started with a one-out single off ICC reliever Meg Whitten. Spann moved around to third on a wild pitch and subsequent groundout and would later score on Paige Sheppard’s grounder to third that was mishandled on the throw over to first base. Now trailing 5-3, Lewis followed with a two-out single to center to keep EMCC’s hopes alive. With the potential tying runs on base, Whitten got Wilson to bounce out to third to end the contest and complete the home sweep for Itawamba. The Lady Indians improved to 21-10 overall and 16-2 within the division with the pair of victories.
Hurt by the one bad inning, former Kemper Academy standout Shelby Sheppard took the loss for the Lady Lions to fall to 4-5 on the season. Along with her four-plus innings of work and Wilson’s two innings of relief help, four of ICC’s five total hits in the nightcap came in the game-deciding third inning. EMCC also out-hit (6-5) the Lady Indians in the second contest.
Coach Kate Neely’s EMCC Lady Lions, 11-22 overall and 5-11 in MACJC North Division play, travel to Goodman on Friday to take on the Lady Bulldogs of Holmes Community College in a makeup doubleheader set to begin at noon.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 05 April 2012 )
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SCOOBA – The Lions of East Mississippi Community College battled back to claim a 9-3 nightcap decision and earn an MACJC North Division baseball doubleheader split with Mississippi Delta Community College Tuesday evening at EMCC’s Gerald Poole Field. The visiting Trojans claimed the opener with a 7-2 victory over EMCC.
Following a rain shower between games, the home-standing Lions took an immediate 1-0 lead on first-inning doubles by Leroy Wilson and Tyler Bonaventure. After the two teams traded solo tallies in the second on respective sacrifice flies, EMCC did some two-out damage in the third to knock out starting Delta pitcher Luke Morman. After Morman struck out the first two batters of the inning, Bonaventure walked and Austin Braddock smashed a double down the left-field line to set up Holden Watts’ clutch, two-run single up the middle.
As the Lions scored two more runs in the fourth with the aid of a pair of MDCC errors, EMCC starting pitcher Smokey Ethridge left the game with a 6-1 lead after the fourth inning. A freshman right-hander from West Lauderdale High School, Ethridge allowed just one run on four hits while striking out four and walking three in improving his team-best mark to 4-2 on the year.
Sophomore right-hander Blake Roberts replaced Ethridge on the mound to start the fifth and pitched three effective innings in relief to pick up his second save of the season. Roberts did run into some trouble in the sixth inning when a lead-off double by Cole Lee and a subsequent walk led to a pair of Delta runs. However, the former New Hope High School standout got out of the inning with minimal damage after a double-play ball and a strikeout.
Scoring runs in all but one inning (fifth), the Lions got back those two runs plus one in the bottom of the sixth on Wilson’s two-run triple to the right-center field gap. He would later score the game’s final run by racing home on a wild pitch. The former Columbus High School product finished the nightcap 3-for-4 at the plate with three runs batted in and two runs scored.
In Tuesday’s opener, the Lions got off to a very sluggish start as four walks, three singles and six stolen bases by the visitors helped mount a 5-0 Delta lead through the first two innings. After plating an unearned run in the second, the lone bright spot offensively for EMCC in game one came on Bonaventure’s lead-off solo blast – his third of the year – in the fourth inning off MDCC’s Eric Brozovich.
A freshman right-hander, Brozovich earned the complete-game victory for the Trojans, scattering five hits over seven innings while fanning four and walking two. Delta pushed across solo runs in the fourth and sixth innings to help his cause and account for the 7-2 final tally.
The Lions used five pitchers in game one with starter Corbin Johnson taking the loss and falling to 0-2 on the year. Dillon Hawkins went 2.1 innings in relief while Tyler Jones, Blake Hutcheson and Tyler Thomas equally divided the final three innings of mound work.
Coach Chris Rose’s EMCC Lions, 12-17 overall and 3-8 in MACJC North Division, play, stay at home to play host to the Bulldogs of Holmes Community College Friday afternoon in a 2 p.m. doubleheader at Gerald Poole Field on the Scooba campus.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 04 April 2012 )
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OLIVE BRANCH – In the MACJC’s fifth and final regular-season golf tournament of the spring, the Lions of East Mississippi Community College finished fourth in this week’s event divided between Southaven’s North Creek and Wedgewood in Olive Branch.
Coach Dale Peay’s EMCC Lions scored well enough to post a pair of sub-300 team scores (298-297—595) for the second straight week, finishing just four strokes behind third-place Copiah-Lincoln Community College (295-296—591). However, the four-time defending NJCAA Region 23 champions of Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College out-distanced the eight-team field by 12 strokes with rounds of 283 and 286 to sweep the MACJC’s regular-season schedule with their fifth straight team title of the spring. Northwest Mississippi CC claimed runner-up team honors with a two-day total of 581, though the Rangers fell out of contention with a final-round 295 after being just three strokes down following Monday’s opening round.
For the second consecutive week, the Lions were paced by sophomore Weston Wallace, who trimmed five strokes off his opening-round score to card a 1-under-par 71 Tuesday and finish 10th with a two-day score of 147. Fellow sophomore Bobby Bowlin, Wallace’s former prep teammate at Northwest Rankin High School, fired a pair of 75s to finish in 14th place.
With two solid rounds of 4-under-par 68, Northwest Mississippi’s Cameron Thomas claimed individual medalist honors with a 3-stroke victory over MGCCC’s Jack Sargent (72-67—139) and Northwest teammate Chad Cupples (69-70—139).
EMCC freshmen Miles Respess and Nick Davis tied for 15th and 21st place, respectively, though their final finishes came in contrasting fashion. Respess, from Paragould, Ark., was tied for fifth after Monday’s opening-round, 1-under-par 71, but he struggled with a second-day 81 to finish with a two-day score of 152. On the other hand, Davis, of Springville, Ala., shaved 14 strokes off Monday’s score with a final-round, 2-under-par 70 to finish at 154.
Rounding out EMCC’s scorecard at the two-day event, sophomores Tyler Slocum and Andrew Spiers tied for 26th and 29th place, respectively, with total scores of 158 (76-82) and 160 (86-74).
Having claimed state runner-up team honors a year ago, the EMCC Lions will next compete at this year’s MACJC State Golf Championship, April 16-17, to be held at River Birch in Amory.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 04 April 2012 )
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SCOOBA – In their first home softball action since March 6, the Lady Lions of East Mississippi Community College earned a MACJC North Division doubleheader split with visiting Northeast Mississippi Community College by holding on for a 4-2 win in Monday afternoon’s nightcap after dropping an 8-3 decision in the opener.
Battling back from defensive woes in the opener, EMCC took advantage of three Northeast errors in game two. Though being out-hit 6-5 in the nightcap, the Lady Lions pushed across solo runs in the first and third innings to take an early 2-0 lead. In the first inning, New Hope’s Haley Tutor walked, moved up on Paige Sheppard’s single and later scored on a wild pitch from Northeast starter Erin Dixson. Two frames later, Allison Hauer and Amber Spann opened the third with consecutive singles. Hauer would later plate EMCC’s second run on a double-steal.
As EMCC freshman starter Stevie Wilson was coasting along in the circle by allowing the visitors just three singles through the first five innings, the Lady Lions would double their run total with a pair of tallies in the bottom of the fifth to move ahead 4-0. Spann, a former Clarkdale standout, got things started with a double to the right-center field gap. She came around to score on Tutor’s grounder to first that was thrown errantly to third base in an attempt to get Spann across the diamond. Sheppard, a former Southeast Lauderdale product, followed with a run-scoring single to right field.
The Lady Tigers got on the scoreboard for the first time in game two with three singles in the sixth inning. Following Ellen Tarrant’s one-out, RBI single that drove home Andrea Cutts, Wilson settled down to retire the next two Northeast batters heading to the dramatic final inning.
In the seventh, Wilson was replaced in the circle by game one starter Shelby Sheppard after allowing a one-out walk to Raleigh Downs. Sheppard got Haley Knepp to ground out for the second out of the inning, but that’s when things got interesting. On the heels of committing five errors in game one, the Lady Lions didn’t commit a defensive miscue in the nightcap until they were down to needing one final out. Back-to-back fielding errors in the EMCC infield allowed Downs to score Northeast’s second run and ultimately put the potential tying runs in scoring position. However, Sheppard got game one winner Jaisa Fox to ground out to third base on a full-count pitch to seal the 4-2 win and salvage the doubleheader split for the home team.
Wilson, from Bessemer Academy in Alabama, improved her record to 4-8 on the year after scattering six Northeast singles over 6.1 innings of work before being relieved by Sheppard.
Spann and Paige Sheppard led the Lady Lions with two hits apiece in the nightcap. Spann also had a seventh-inning single in the opener.
In game one, EMCC broke a scoreless tie with three runs off Fox in the fourth inning, capped by Logan Bozeman’s two-out, two-run single that followed Cortnee Meyers’ sun-aided, run-scoring single to left field. However, the lead was short-lived as the Lady Lions committed four costly errors in the top of the fifth that contributed to Northeast’s six-run inning.
With the Lady Lions managing but one single over the final three frames off Fox, the visitors added two insurance runs in the seventh to account for the 8-3 final in the opener.
Coach Kate Neely’s EMCC Lady Lions, now 11-20 overall and 5-9 in division play, return to the road to meet division-leading Itawamba in a 3 p.m. doubleheader Wednesday in Fulton. EMCC will close out the week by making up a road doubleheader against Holmes Friday at noon in Goodman.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 03 April 2012 )
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MONTICELLO, Ark. – Following a month’s layoff from competition, the East Mississippi Community College men’s rodeo team finished third in the Boll Weevil Stampede hosted by the University of Arkansas at Monticello. The three-day rodeo event concluded Saturday night at the Drew County Fairgrounds.
After scoring a runner-up finish in their spring-opening rodeo held Feb. 23-25 at Cossatot Community College in Texarkana, Ark., the EMCC Lions totaled 445 points this week to finish behind perennial NIRA Ozark Region rodeo powers Tennessee-Martin (815 pts) and Missouri Valley College (620 pts).
Now with 1,920 composite team points on the season, the Lions moved up two notches in the regional team standings from sixth to fourth place. With MVC (5,160 pts) and UTM (3,915) sitting comfortably at No. 1 and 2, respectively, atop the Ozark Region standings, the EMCC men have passed Troy and Murray State within the team standings and now stand just 130 team points behind third-place Southern Arkansas.
Individually at the UAM rodeo, EMCC was led by freshman cowboy Scooter Scarbrough, of Florence, who paired with Southern Arkansas’ Caleb Erwin to collect top honors in the team roping event with 155 points apiece. In addition, former Noxubee County High School product D.D. Hunt teamed up with Kemper Academy’s Jesse Rush to place third in team roping.
Scarbrough, who attended Simpson County Academy, also placed second in calf roping to contribute an additional 120 points to the Lions’ cause. For his efforts, Scarbrough won the All-Around individual title for the UAM-hosted rodeo. Sophomore transfer Andrew Yates, of Crystal Springs, finished fifth in calf roping to tally 65 points for EMCC.
EMCC’s remaining points on the men’s side came from Leake Academy’s Ethan Bobo, who earned 105 points with a third-place showing in the steer wrestling event.
In women’s competition, EMCC’s Lady Lions finished sixth as a team with DeKalb’s Leslie Pevey accounting for the team’s 40 total points in the barrel racing event. The Missouri Valley women edged Tennessee-Martin, 415-400, to claim the women’s team title.
Coach Morgan Goodrich’s EMCC rodeo teams will be back in action April 12-14 at the University of Tennessee at Martin.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 03 April 2012 )
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