| EMCC Lions close out home baseball slate with doubleheader sweep of Holmes |
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.jpg "Image") Led by Cody Pounders (left) and Derek Beach, the EMCC pitching staff limited visiting Holmes to just one run on only 11 total hits in sweeping the Bulldogs, 1-0 and 2-1, Tuesday afternoon in the Lions’ final home action of the 2009 baseball campaign. The doubleheader sweep of the Bulldogs marked EMCC’s second double-dip of the season, having also swept Coahoma (9-2 & 11-5) in Scooba exactly one month ago to the date. In Tuesday’s opener against Holmes, freshman southpaw Derek Beach of Heidelberg scattered five hits over seven innings to move to 4-3 on the year. The former Heidelberg Academy standout struck out three and did not issue a walk en route to the complete-game shutout. While Beach and the Lion defense did not allow an HCC runner into scoring position through the first four innings, EMCC was able to plate the game’s lone tally in its half of the fourth. Following back-to-back singles by David Williams and Zane Cradic, Hickory’s Brandon Williams’ sacrifice fly accounted for the game’s lone run. The Bulldogs were able to mount a pair of two-out threats late in the contest, but Beach worked through a fifth-inning triple by Michael Pounds and a double the following frame by Cameron White. Working through a steady drizzle during most of the first game, Beach capped his impressive pitching effort by picking off his second base runner of the contest at first base to end the game. After the chilly rain blew out of the Scooba area between games, the EMCC pitching stayed hot under blue skies during the nightcap. Lion starter Tyler Richardson, a West Lauderdale product, allowed just two singles and struck out four through the first three innings before giving way to Cody Pounders. Leadoff batter Luke Walker, also of West Lauderdale fame, opened the second contest with an opposite-field single for the Lions. After advancing two bases on a botched pickoff attempt at first base, Beach got the run home with a groundout to second base. In relief of Richardson, Pounders was greeted in the fourth inning with a double down the left-field line by Ben Hodge. Following the Lions’ unsuccessful attempt to complete a rundown play on a pickoff try at second base, Hodge later came around to tie the score on Jordan Brewer’s two-out single. EMCC immediately got the eventual deciding run back in the home half of the fourth on successive singles by Josh Rone, Cradic and Drew Vaughan at the start of the inning. Amory’s Rone and Cradic, a Northeast Lauderdale product, had a pair of hits apiece in the second game. A former standout at New Hope High School, Pounders nailed down his first collegiate victory in three decisions on the year by allowing just two singles over the final three frames. Like the opening contest, the Lions completed the sweep with a defensive gem by turning a game-ending double play. Head coach Tony Montgomery’s EMCC Lions, now 11-35 overall on the year and 6-15 in North Division action, conclude their 2009 baseball campaign with a Saturday afternoon twin bill at divisional foe Mississippi Delta. |
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| Last Updated ( Wednesday, 22 April 2009 ) |
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