Wolves Split on the Road Against Tigers

BOONEVILLE – The Co-Lin Baseball team returned to action with a road doubleheader against Northeast Mississippi on Saturday, March 25. The Wolves and Tigers split the series with the Wolves taking game one, 7-6, while the Tigers took game two, 9-8.

GAME ONE

The Wolves got their scoring started early with a single run in the bottom of the first as Brentley Berry (Magee) drew a leadoff walk and then advanced to second on single by Tyler Wolfe (Covington, LA). Berry later scored in the inning on a two-out RBI groundout by Ryland Hemphill (Florence) giving the Wolves an early 1-0 lead. However, the Tigers responded with a single run of their own tying the game at 1-1.

The Wolves regained the lead with a pair of runs in the top of the second as Christian Cameron (Brandon) hit a leadoff single and then advanced to third on a double by Hayden Babineaux (Church Point, LA). Cameron then scored on an RBI groundout by Riley Easterling (Brookhaven) while Babineaux scored as Berry reached on an error giving the Wolves a 3-1 lead.  The Tigers scored a single run in the bottom half of the second to cut in the Wolves lead making the score, 3-2.

The Wolves increased their lead with one run in the top of the third as Ryland Hemphill took one swing of the bat and crushed a solo home run to right field making the score, 4-2. The Tigers then scored one run each in the bottom of the third, fourth, and fifth innings while holding the Wolves scoreless to take a lead at 5-4 after five innings of play.

The Wolves tied the game with one run in the top of the sixth as Camron hit a leadoff double and then later scored on a two-out RBI single by Easterling making the score, 5-5. However, the Tigers regained the lead with a single run in the bottom of the seventh making the score, 6-5.

The Wolves then retook the lead in the top of the ninth as Wolfe hit a leadoff bunt single to get the offense going. Wolfe then advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Harrison Mohead (Madison) and then advanced to third on a fly out. Sam Thomas then stepped up, took one swing of the bat, and smashed a two-run home run to right field giving the Wolves a 7-6 lead.

The Tigers then looked poised to potentially win the game in the bottom of the ninth as they loaded the bases with one out, However, the Wolves forced a line out double play by Sam Thomas at third base to end the game at secure the 7-6 game one win.

The Wolves totaled 10 hits as a team with Tyler Wolfe, Ryland Hemphill, Christian Cameron, and Hayden Babineaux had two hits apiece while Sam Thomas and Riley Easterling had one hit each. Hemphill, Thomas, and Easterling had two RBIs each during the game.

Tyler Wolfe got the start for the Wolves and earned a no-decision while pitching 4.2 innings allowing five runs, all earned, on 12 hits with one walk and three strikeouts. Jayden Duncan (Foxworth) pitched 2.1 innings of relief allowing one earned run on two hits with one strikeout. Coby Gollot (Ocean Springs) picked up the win in relief improving to 3-1 overall while pitching two innings of scoreless relief allowing one hit with two walks and one strikeout.

"It was nice to see our bats come alive during these games," said Co-Lin head coach Adam Chamblee. "We have struggled a bit offensively as of late, but the guys worked hard on some things this week during practice, and it showed today. We made a couple of mistakes than we would have liked to, but we were able to limit the damage and keep it close enough to allow Sam Thomas to come up with that two-run home run to give us the lead late in the game."

GAME TWO

The second game of the day got off to a much different start as the Wolves jumped out to a big lead with four runs in the bottom of the first with Brentley Berry hitting a leadoff double to start the game. Harrison Mohead then came up with one out and took one swing of the bat crushing a two-run home run to right field making the score, 2-0. Sam Thomas then hit a two-out single while Alford Hill (Isola) drew a walk. Thomas and Hill then scored on back-to-back singles by Hayden Babineaux and Braydon Evans (Florence) making the score, 4-0.

The Wolves then increased their lead with two runs in the top of the third as Christian Cameron was hit by pitch with one out while Sam Thomas then drew a walk. The Wolves then pulled off a double steal as Cameron stole third and Thomas swiped second behind him. Cameron then scored on a sacrifice fly by Hill while Thomas then scored on a two-out RBI single by Babineaux making the score, 6-0.

The Wolves scored two more runs in the top of the fifth to increase their lead as Thomas drew a one-out walk. Babineaux then came to bat with two outs, took one swing of the bat, and blasted a two-run home run to left centerfield making the score 8-0.

The Tigers then started their comeback effort scoring one run in the bottom of the fifth to cut the lead down to 8-1. The big inning for the Tigers came in the bottom of the sixth as they scored seven runs to tie the game at 8-8. The Tigers then held the Wolves scoreless in the top of the seventh and then scored one run in the bottom half to earn the walk-off win in game two.

The Wolves totaled seven hits as a team with Hayden Babineaux leading the way going 3-for-3 at the plate while Brentley Berry, Harrison Mohead, Sam Thomas, and Braydon Evans had one hit each. Babineaux led the Wolves in RBIs with four, while Mohead had two RBIs, with Alford Hill and Evans adding one RBI each.

Kade May (Florence) got the start for the Wolves and earned a no-decision while pitching five innings allowing five runs, all earned, on 10 hits with one walk and seven strikeouts. Andin Bolen (Lucedale) picked up the loss in a relief appearance moving to 0-2 overall while pitching two innings allowing four runs, all earned, on three hits with one walk and one strikeout. Coby Gollot pitched 0.1 innings of relief with one walk, while Conner Wilson (Osyka) also pitched in relief for the Wolves.

"The game of baseball can be cruel at times, and we felt that in game two despite the fact that I felt our guys did what it took to win both games," stated Chamblee. "But in the game of baseball, you have to be able to get all the necessary outs to get the win and all the credit goes to Northeast for swinging the bats the way they did late in the second game."

"Even though the doubleheader didn't turn out how we would have liked it to, I am still super proud of how our guys played and the strides they have made to get better throughout this year," added Chamblee.

Co-Lin is now 8-22 overall, 2-6 in conference play, and will return to action hosting East Central on Wednesday, March 29. First pitch between the Warriors and Wolves is set for 3 p.m., at Sullivan Field in Wesson.