Wolves Drop Pair of Contests Against Warriors

DECATUR – The Co-Lin Baseball team returned to action with a road doubleheader against East Central in conference play on Tuesday, April 12. The Warriors swept the Wolves taking game one, 17-9, and game two, 9-5.

Game One

The Wolves got off to an early lead in the top of the first as Jordan McKenzie (Franklinton, La.) took one swing of the bat and drove a 2-2 pitch over the left field fence for a solo home run (his first of the season) giving the Wolves a 1-0 lead.

However, the Warriors responded with one run in the bottom of the first to tie the game at 1-1. The Warriors then held the Wolves to just one baserunner from the second through fourth innings while also scoring five runs in the second, three in the third, and four in the fourth to 13-1 lead over the Wolves heading to the fifth inning.

The Wolves responded with six runs in the fifth as DJ Walker (Brandon) smashed the first pitch he saw over the right field fence for a solo home run (his third of the season) cutting the lead down to 13-2. Harrison Mohead (Madison) then singled, while Braydon Muse (Florence) reached on an error, and Colton Womack (Liberty) reached on a fielder's choice to load the bases with no outs. Mohead then scored on a sacrifice fly by Tom Biggs (Columbia, La.) while Muse scored on an RBI-single by McKenzie and then Womack scored on a single by Josh Boone (Foxworth) as McKenzie went from first to third on the play making the score 13-5. McKenzie then scored on a balk by the Warriors while Boone also moved to second on the play and Boone then later scored on an RBI-single for Walker (his second hit of the inning) to make the score 13-7.

The final two runs for the Wolves came in the top of the sixth after a scoreless bottom of the fifth by the Warriors as Biggs hit a two-out double and then scored as McKenzie took one swing of the and smashed a 2-0 pitch over the left field fence for a two-run home run (his second of the game and second of the season) making the score 13-9.

The Warriors then scored four in the bottom of the sixth and held the Wolves scoreless in the top of the seventh to secure the 17-9 win in game one.

Jordan McKenzie led the Wolves offense going 3-for-4 at the plate while DJ Walker had two hits. Tom Biggs, Josh Boone, and Harrison Mohead had one hit apiece as the Wolves totaled eight hits including one double for Biggs, one home run for Walker, and two home runs for McKenzie.

Will Whittington (Hattiesburg) got the start for the Wolves and fell to 0-1 on the season pitching 1.1 innings allowing six runs, five earned, on six hits with two strikeouts and one walk. Andrew Smith (Morton) pitched 1.2 innings of relief allowing three runs on three hits, Lance Elsen (Madison) pitched one inning of relief allowing four runs with two strikeouts and six walks, while Noah Freeman (Mendenhall) pitched two innings of relief allowing four runs on three hits with two strikeouts and three walks.

Game Two

The Warriors got off to an early lead in the second game of the day scoring one run in the first and two runs in the third while allowing the Wolves just one baserunner in the first two innings to take a 3-0 lead.

The Wolves scored one run in the top of the third as Kade Parker (Cadeville, La.) hit a lead-off double and then scored on an RBI-single by Braydon Muse to cut the lead down to 3-1. The Warriors matched the Wolves in the bottom of the third with one run and regained their three-run lead at 4-1.

The Wolves added one run in the fourth as Kenner Bizot (Wesson) hit a one-out single and then later scored on an RBI-triple by Brady Spring (Brookhaven) making the score, 4-2. However, the Warriors responded with a big inning as they doubled their run total with four runs in the bottom half of the inning increasing their lead to 8-2.

The Wolves added one run in the fifth as Grant Allen (Puckett) drew a lead-off walk, took second on a passed ball, advanced to third on a single by Jordan McKenzie, and then stole home cutting the lead down to 8-3. The Warriors added their final run of the in the bottom of the fifth increasing their lead to 9-3.

The Wolves final two runs came in the sixth and seventh innings. In the sixth inning, DJ Walker hit a one-out single and then later scored on a fielder's choice by Parker making the score 8-4. In the seventh innings, Wade Nichols (Brandon) hit a pinch-hit, two-out single, advanced to second on a single by Josh Boone and then scored as Bizot reached on an error making the score, 8-5. The Warriors then got the final out of the inning on a strikeout to end the game, securing the game two win, and sweep for the Warriors.

Kenner Bizot led the Wolves offense as the only member of the team with a multi-hit game in game two going 2-for-4 at the plate. Jordan McKenzie, Wade Nichols, Josh Boone, DJ Walker, Brady Spring, Kade Parker, Braydon Muse, Grant Allen, and Beau Coumbe (Utica) got one hit each as the Wolves totaled 11 hits including one double for Parker and one triple for Spring. McKenzie, Spring, Parker, and Muse had one RBI each during the game.

Wyatt Hodges (Brookhaven) got the start for the Wolves and fell to 0-2 overall pitching three innings allowing four runs on four hits with three strikeouts and five walks. Nate Anderson (Poplarville) pitched two innings of relief allowing five runs, four earned, on four hits with two walks while Hunter Rhymes (Lucedale) pitched one inning of scoreless relief with one hit and one strikeout.

Co-Lin is now 11-24 overall and 6-14 in conference play. The Wolves will return to action hosting Northeast on Friday, April 15. First pitch between the Tigers and the Wolves is scheduled for 2 p.m., at Sullivan Field in Wesson.