Wolves lose two slugfests to No. 20 East Central

DECATUR, Miss. – The bats were hot for both Co-Lin and the No. 20 Warriors Wednesday as the teams combined for 51 runs on 37 hits, but the Wolves found themselves on the losing end of the twin bill. Co-Lin dropped game one, a back-and-forth high scoring game, 15-14, and lost game two 15-7. The losses move the Wolves to 16-15 on the year and 5-13 in MACJC play. Co-Lin is back in Wesson on Saturday, April 21 as the Wolves play host to Holmes Community College. The doubleheader starts at 2 p.m., and fans can watch the action live at colinathletics.com.

Game one, L, 15-14

Austin Tidwell led off to start game one and roped a solo homer to get the Wolves on the board early. Just two batters later, Jaylyn Williams cranked a solo shot of his own to give Co-Lin an early 2-0 lead.

ECCC got one back in the bottom of the second with a homer and added two more in the third after a walk with the bases loaded and a wild pitch. Going into the fourth the Warriors led 3-2.

The Wolves took advantage of a wild pitch in the fifth to tie the game once again at 3-3, but ECCC responded with a pair of RBI singles and a homer in the bottom of the frame to stretch the lead to 7-3.

An RBI single from Craig Bradley and a solo homer from Chandler Dillard tied the game, for the third time, at 7-7. Williams hit his second homer of the day in the top of the seventh to give Co-Lin the lead, the first since the second inning, 8-7.

The power-hitting continued in the bottom of the seventh with a two-run ECCC homer, the seventh jack of the game. The shot from Davis Lott gave the Warriors a 9-8 lead.

The Wolves continued to battled and an RBI single from Tyler Vroman followed by an RBI double from Tidwell put the Wolves back on top 11-9 going into the bottom of the eighth.

A pair of walks with the bases loaded, an RBI single, and a sacrifice fly, resulted in a big inning for the Warriors in the bottom of the eighth. Going into the final frame ECCC led14-11.

CJ Estave drove in one for the Wolves in the top of the ninth with an RBI double and two errors tied the game at 14-14 going into the bottom of the ninth.

Jacob Edwards led the bottom half off with a triple, and eventually scored on a walk-off bunt.

Zach James took the loss for Co-Lin on the mound. He allowed two hits and one run over two-thirds of an inning, walking one. Tidwell started the game for the Wolves. He lasted four and a third innings, allowing four hits and six runs while striking out two. Kyle Whittington, Christian Day, Justin Hutton, and Zach Smith also threw in relief from the bullpen.

The Wolves tallied 15 hits in the game with Williams, Tidwell, Dillard, Mark Hubbard, and Bradley all having multiple hits. Williams went 4-for-5 with two homers to lead the Wolves at the plate.

Game two, L, 15-7

East Central poured in the runs early, and Co-Lin was unable to bounce back in the nightcap as the Warriors ran away with the victory.

ECCC got one run in the bottom of the first and added another five in the bottom of the third off an RBI single and a grand slam from Ken Scott.

The Warriors pushed two more across in the bottom of the fifth with an RBI single and a passed ball to stretch the lead to 8-0 going into the sixth.

The Wolves finally got things going in the top of the seventh. Chandler Dillard drew a walk with the bases loaded to score one, and Mark Dillard did the same just two batters later. Austin O'Flynn drove one in with an RBI single, and Jaylyn Williams was hit by a pitch to plate another. CJ Estave rounded out the inning with an RBI double center that scored O'Flynn and Williams. Going into the bottom of the sixth Co-Lin trailed by one, 8-7.

ECCC responded in the bottom of the sixth with seven runs to pull the game out of reach 15-7.

Conner Ingram got the start and the loss on the hill for Co-Lin. He went two and two-thirds innings, allowing six runs on five hits and striking out two. Anthony Clapp, Jordan Bowdan, Zach Smith, and Tyler Etheridge all threw for the Wolves in game two.

O'Flynn led the Wolves at the plate with three hits in four at bats.

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