Wolves Split Road Doubleheader with Bears

BATON ROUGE, La. – The Co-Lin Baseball team hit the road to face off against Baton Rouge on Thursday, February 29. The Wolves and Bears split the day with the Wolves taking game one, 7-3, while the Bears won game two, 10-9, in extra innings.

GAME ONE

The game was scoreless through the first three and a half innings of play, but the Bears broke through first scoring a solo run in the bottom of the fourth to take a 1-0 lead. The Wolves then responded with five runs in the top of the fifth.

Isaac McClenty (Ridgeland) and Brentley Berry (Magee) drew back-to-back walks to start the inning. After the Wolves executed a double steal, McClenty scored on an RBI single by Tucker Jones (Brandon) tying the game at 1-1. After Jones stole second, he then advanced to third as Hagan Coumbe (Utica) reached on a fielder's choice giving the Wolves a 2-1 lead as Berry scored on the play. After Coumbe was picked off at first base, Jordan McKenzie (Franklinton, LA) reached on an error scoring Jones. Rylan Hemphill (Florence) then reached base on a second straight error while Sam Thomas (Madison) singled to load the bases with one out for the Wolves. After a strikeout, Braden Freeman (Terry) was brought in as a runner to replace Hemphill, and then Spencer Wilson (McComb) delivered a two-out, two-RBI single scoring McKenzie and Freeman to give the Wolves a 5-1 lead.

The Bears then cut into the lead with a single run in the bottom of the fifth to make the score, 5-2. However, the Wolves responded with a pair of runs in the top of the sixth as Coumbe hit a two-out single to get the offense going. Coumbe then scored on an RBI triple by McKenzie who then scored on an RBI single by Freeman increasing the lead to 7-2.

The Bears scored one run in the eighth and had two runners on with two outs, but a fielder's choice ended the inning with the Wolves maintaining a 7-3 lead. The Bears then got a two-out single in the ninth, but the Wolves forced a fly out to end the game and secure the 7-3 win.

Tucker Jones and Sam Thomas led the Wolves with two hits apiece while Hagan Coumbe, Jordan McKenzie, Ryland Hemphill, Braden Freeman, Spencer Wilson, and Isaac McClenty had one hit each. Wilson led the team in RBIs with two while Freeman, McKenzie, Coumbe, and Jones had one RBI each.

Andin Bolen (Lucedale) got the start for the Wolves and improved to 2-0 on the season with the win. Bolen pitched 7.2 innings allowing three runs, two earned, on five hits with one walk and a career-high nine strikeouts. Dee Morgan (Tallulah, LA) pitched 1.1 innings of scoreless relief with one hit and one walk.

GAME TWO

The second game of the day was scoreless through the first two innings, but the Wolves broke through with four runs in the top of the third as Isaac McClenty and Brentley Berry got things going with back-to-back one-out singles. Both then scored on a two-RBI triple by Tucker Jones as Jon David Weed (Terry) followed by being hit-by-pitch. After a line-out for the second out of the inning, both Jones and Weed scored on a two-RBI single by Jordan McKenzie to give the Wolves a 4-0 lead.

The Wolves added two more runs in the fourth as McClenty hit a two-out single followed up with a double by Berry while both then scored on a two-RBI single by Jones increasing the lead to 6-0. The Bears then cut into the Wolves lead with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth making the score, 6-2.

The Wolves added another pair of runs in the top of the fifth as Hagan Coumbe and McKenzie hit back-to-back singles to start the inning. Both then advanced bases on a sacrifice bunt by Sam Cook while Coumbe then scored on an error making the score, 7-2. After Reise Thomas (Florence) was hit-by-pitch, McKenzie scored on an RBI groundout by Sam Thomas increasing the lead to 8-2.

The Wolves added a solo run in the top of the sixth as Jones singled, Weed was hit-by-pitch, and Coumbe then singled to load the bases with one out. Jones then scored on a sacrifice fly by McKenzie increasing the lead to 9-2. The Bears then scored four runs in the bottom of the sixth to cut the Wolves lead down to 9-6. The Bears then held the Wolves scoreless in the top of the seventh and scored three runs on three-run home run in the bottom of the seventh while the inning finished with the game tied resulting in extra innings.

The Bears then took advantage of an error by the Wolves in the bottom of the eighth to score the game-winning run and take a 10-9 win.

Tucker Jones led the Wolves offense going 3-for-5 at the plate while Brentley Berry, Hagan Coumbe, Jordan McKenzie, and Isaac McClenty had two hits apiece with Sam Cook and Sam Thomas adding one hit each. Jones led the Wolves with four RBIs, while McKenzie had three, and Thomas had one.

Connor Pittman (Waynesboro) got the start and earned a no-decision while pitching five innings and allowing two runs, both earned, on three hits with four walks and six strikeouts. Judson Griffin (Brookhaven) pitched one inning of relief allowing four runs, all earned, on three hits with one walk. Wade Barr (Collins) picked up the loss in a relief appearance moving to 1-2 on the season while pitching 1.2 innings and allowing four runs, three earned, on six hits with one walk and two strikeouts.

Co-Lin is now 8-10 overall and will host Baton Rouge for a doubleheader on Sunday, March 3. First pitch between the Bears and the Wolves is set for 1 p.m. at Sullivan Field in Wesson.