By Robby Atkinson/Special to The Star The Meridian Star

PANAMA CITY, Fla. — The Meridian Community College Eagles used a solid pitching performance from sophomore Jonathan Thompson and some timely hitting to take its first win of the 2010 season by a final score of 8-5 against Chipola Junior College at the First Pitch Classic at Gulf Coast.

Thompson pitched 7 1/3 innings and collected six strikeouts to earn his first as an MCC Eagle. Freshman Payton Gardener earned the save for the Eagles working the final 1 2/3 and tallying three strikeouts in relief.

"We had a great day on the mound," said MCC head coach Chris Rose. "We got a great start from Jonathan and we played some great defense behind him. It feels to good to get our first win of the season in such a tough field of teams in this tournament."

MCC will wrap up its play in the First Pitch Classic today at 2:30 p.m. against Florida Gulf Coast or St. Petersburg College.

MCC opened with a 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning thanks to some great hitting from the top of the Eagle lineup. Sophomore Corey Dickerson delivered a two-run single to left field with two outs to give MCC the early 2-0 lead over the Indians. Chipola came right back with a pair of runs of its own in the bottom portion of the second thanks to a long home run.

Michael Revell hit a towering two-run home run over the fence in left to tie the game at 2-2 after two innings of play. Chipola took its only lead of the game in the fourth inning due to some great hitting with two outs. Jonathan Gilbert smacked a single to right field that scored Joey Rapp who reached on a walk to make the score 3-2 in favor of Chipola.

MCC rallied with a three run fifth inning to take a 5-3 lead over Chipola. The Eagles sent eight players to the plate in the inning and the frame was highlighted by a two-run double by Darren Farmer, a former West Lauderdale standout. MCC extended its lead in the sixth inning with the first home run of the season for the Eagles. Freshman shortstop Graham Spencer smashed a solo home run to left center field to give the Eagles a 6-3 lead.

The Indians chipped away at the MCC lead with a run in the seventh and eighth inning to make the score 6-5. The run in the seventh scored on an error by the Eagles and the fifth run of the game for Chipola scored on a solo home run by Rapp.

MCC tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the ninth inning to put away the 8-5 victory. Kenny Sanders led the inning off with a single and Dickerson followed by reaching on an error by Chipola to put a pair of runners aboard for the Eagles. Both runs scored on a fielding error by the Indians that gave Meridian just enough breathing room for the win.

Sanders led the way for Eagles with two hits and Ben Kingsley added a single in the victory for MCC. The Eagles collected six hits in the game and Chipola earned seven hits in the loss.

 

 
By Robby Atkinson / Special to The Star The Meridian Star

MERIDIAN — The Meridian Community College Eagles have enjoyed many years of success on the baseball diamond by making seven appearances in the NJCAA World Series in Grand Junction, Colo., and this season the goal is to make it number eight.

MCC enjoyed another banner season in 2009 by securing a Region 23 Championship in dramatic fashion over Delgado, but the Eagles fell short of its ultimate goal of winning a national championship. The Eagles are hoping that 2010 will be the year to take the final step, but the Eagles will need to fill some big shoes in a hurry.

"We lost a lot of great players from last season, but these young players coming into 2010 have some great talent," said MCC head coach Chris Rose. Rose is in his fourth season as the head coach for the Eagles and the goals never change at MCC.

"Our number one goal is to get to Grand Junction and win a national championship," said Rose. "Meridian has been an elite program for years and we have enjoyed a lot of success. We will face some tough challenges this season and we will look for some young guys to step up in a big way to fill some holes from some solid sophomores from last season."

MCC will return seven sophomores from 2009 and the most notable being center fielder Corey Dickerson. Dickerson led the Eagles in most offensive categories last season and will be in the lead off spot in the lineup for MCC.

"He is a great hitter and we are looking for big things from him again this season," said Rose. "He works extremely hard and looks to improve his game everyday."

Dickerson has already signed to play at Mississippi State next season. Jonathan Pace returns for his sophomore season for MCC and will see plenty of action in the infield for the Eagles. Pace will primarily start at third base for MCC replacing departed third baseman Tyler Vick, who led the team in home runs last season.

Another new face on the infield for MCC will be at shortstop with freshman Graham Spencer. Spencer will bring a solid glove to the position and replace Jordan King from last season, who signed to play at Ole Miss. Freshman Hunter Trawick has drawn the starts so far at first base for the Eagles replacing Taylor Scarbrough from last season. Former Meridian High standout Kenny Roberts rounds out the infield and will draw starts at second base for MCC.

"I believe that we will be very solid defensively this season," added Rose. "We are young in the middle, but those guys are getting better every day."

MCC will have a small taste of local flavor behind the plate as Darren Farmer will see a lot of action at catcher. The former West Lauderdale standout brings a lot of experience at the catching position and was a part of a State Championship for the Knights last season. The Eagles are deep at the catching position with Chase Hesson and Avi Ahlzadeh, who will also see action.

MCC returns several outfielders from last season led by Kenny Sanders. Sanders cracked the starting lineup at the end of the 2009 season and will look to contribute in 2010. Michael LeGrange, Drew Crosby, Nick Helmstetter, and Alan Williams will see some action in the outfield for MCC this season as well.

The most important part of the success for the Eagles this season will lie with its pitching staff. MCC returns only two pitchers from last season and the Eagles will have lots of youth on the mound in 2010.

Former Enterprise standout and sophomore Blake Hennington will be in the starting rotation for MCC along with sophomore Jonathan Thompson. MCC will also look for contributions from Scott Lord, Dustin McWilliams of West Lauderdale, Payton Gardner, and several other to fill holes among the staff.

MCC kicked off the 2010 season on Friday with a 4-2 loss to Central Alabama in the First Pitch Classic in Panama, City Fla. The Eagles rebounded with an 8-5 against Chipola on Saturday before losing to St. Petersburg College 9-4 Sunday.

MCC opens its home schedule Friday against Shelton State at 2 p.m. The 2010 schedule will feature the annual Rush Tournament (Feb. 12-14) and key Miss-Lou Conference games with Delgado and Baton Rouge. The site of the Region 23 Tournament will be the winner of the regular season championship of the Miss-Lou Conference.

MCC enters the 2010 season nationally ranked 19th according to the NJCAA Divison I preseason poll.