Wolves Split on the Road Against Itawamba

FULTON – The Co-Lin Baseball team took to the road to face off against Itawamba on Saturday, April 2 in a conference play doubleheader. The Indians and Wolves split the series as the Indians took game one, 16-4, while the Wolves rebounded in game two winning, 9-7.

Game One

The Indians scored all 16 of their runs in the first three innings of the game as they scored one in the first, five in the second, and then 10 in the third to take a 16-0 lead as the Wolves had just three baserunners in the first three innings with one hit and two walks.

The first two runs for the Wolves came in the fourth as Harrison Mohead (Madison) hit a two-out single, advanced to second on a passed ball and then scored on an RBI-double by DJ Walker (Brandon). Walker then scored as Braydon Muse (Florence) reached base on a single making the score, 16-2.

The final two runs for the Wolves came in the fifth as Tom Biggs (Columbia, La.) drew a lead-off walk, Beau Coumbe (Utica) was hit-by-pitch, and Reed Barlow (Florence) singled to load the bases with no outs. Biggs then scored on a sacrifice fly by Kenner Bizot (Wesson), while Coumbe scored on an RBI-groundout by Brady Spring (Brookhaven) making the score, 16-4. A flyout then ended the inning and secured the 16-4 win for the Indians.

Josh Boone (Foxworth), Reed Barlow, Harrison Mohead, DJ Walker, and Braydon Muse had one hit apiece as the Wolves totaled five hits during the game including one double for Walker. Kenner Bizot, Brady Spring, Walker, and Muse led the Wolves in RBIs with one each.

Kade May (Florence) got the start for the Wolves and fell to 2-4 with the loss pitching two innings allowing nine runs, eight earned, on six hits with one strikeout and three walks. Nate Anderson (Poplarville) pitched 0.1 innings of relief allowing five runs on three hits with one strikeout. Tedrick Page (Taylorsville) pitched in relief allowing two runs, while Will Whittington (Hattiesburg) pitched 1.2 innings of scoreless relief with two hits and one strikeout.

Game Two

The Indians once again got out to an early lead scoring two in the bottom of the first making the score, 2-0. However, the Wolves responded with a solo run in the top of the second as Jordan McKenzie (Franklinton, La.) hit a lead-off double, advanced to third on a single by DJ Walker, and then scored on an RBI-single by Braydon Muse making the score, 2-1.

The Indians regained their two-run lead with a solo run in the bottom of the second making the score, 3-1. The Wolves then tied the game with a pair of runs in the third inning as Kenner Bizot hit a lead-off double and then Brady Spring drew a walk. Both runners advanced to third and second respectively on a sacrifice bunt by McKenzie while Bizot then scored on an RBI-single by Walker and Spring then scored on an RBI-groundout by Muse making the score, 3-3.

The Indians once again took the lead as they scored three runs in the bottom of the third making the score, 6-3. The Wolves cut the lead down to 6-4 with a solo run in the top of the fourth as Tom Biggs took one swing of the bat and drove a 1-0 pitch over the right field fence for a solo home run (his eighth of the season). The Indians responded with a single run of their own in the bottom of the fourth to increase their lead back to three runs at 7-4.

The Wolves continued to respond and added one run in the top of the fifth as Spring hit a lead-off triple and then scored on and RBI-single by McKenzie making the score 7-5. The Wolves then held the Indians scoreless in the bottom half of the fifth despite giving up a lead-off double and then the Wolves took the lead in the top of the sixth scoring four runs. Harrison Mohead hit a lead-off single, advanced to second on a groundout by Josh Boone, and then scored on a double by Bizot making the score, 7-6. Bizot then later tied the game on a two-out, RBI-single by McKenzie making the score, 7-7. McKenzie then advanced to second on a passed ball and scored as Walker reached base on a single giving the Wolves an 8-7 lead. Walker then stole second and scored on a single by Muse increasing the Wolves lead to 9-7.

The Wolves then held the Indians to just two baserunners in the sixth and seventh innings allowing one hit in each inning to seal the 9-7 victory.

DJ Walker had a huge performance for the Wolves going a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate while Jordan McKenzie had three hits during the game. Tom Biggs, Josh Boone, Kenner Bizot, and Braydon Muse had two hits apiece with Harrison Mohead and Brady Spring adding one hit each as the Wolves totaled 17 hits including two doubles for Bizot, one double for McKenzie, one triple for Spring, and one home run for Biggs.

Kade Parker (Cadeville, La.) got the start for the Wolves and improved to 4-3 with the win pitching six innings allowing seven runs, four earned, on 10 hits with two strikeouts and three walks. Cooper Williams (Madison) earned his first save of the season pitching a scoreless seventh inning with one hit in his relief appearance.

"It was good to see our guys respond like they did in game two after a tough game one," said Co-Lin head coach Clay Smith. "We got some big hits late in game two from the bottom of our lineup and Kade Parker threw well to keep us in the game. Cooper Williams did a great job in the save situation for us. Those last three outs are always the toughest to get."

Co-Lin is now 11-18 overall and 6-8 in conference play. The Wolves will return to action hosting No.1 Pearl River in a conference play doubleheader on Wednesday, April 6. The first pitch between the Wildcats and the Wolves is scheduled for 3 p.m., at Sullivan Field in Wesson.