Trojans Split on February 13 | Defeat Itawamba Before Falling to East Central

Game 1: MDCC 9, Itawamba CC 8

Itawamba jumped out to an early 2–0 lead in the second inning following a two-run home run from Jack Howell. Sophomore Jaiden McKinney (#24) was effective through two innings before encountering trouble in the third as the Indians threatened again.

Freshman Winn White (#10) entered in relief and helped MDCC escape the third inning with a key unassisted double play by catcher Luke Sims (#19). White continued his strong outing, throwing four complete innings out of the bullpen to keep the Trojans within striking distance.

The Trojan offense responded in the top of the fourth inning, scoring four runs with two outs to take a 4–3 lead behind clutch hits from Connor Counts (#28) and Luke Sims (#19). After a two-out walk by Braysier Cox (#8), Dowe McGowan (#34) delivered a double to left field to continue the scoring.

MDCC added to its lead in the sixth inning, stringing together five hits from Sims, Gonzalez, Temple, Wood, and Counts to extend the advantage to 8–3. The Trojans added another run in the seventh to take a 9–3 lead into the final frame.

Itawamba mounted a late push, plating two runs on a home run to left. Head Coach Gillentine turned to sophomore closer Hayes Daniel (#17), who recorded two strikeouts and secured the win with the help of a defensive play by Carson Shells (#2) at third base. MDCC claimed a 9–8 victory for its second win of the season.

"I was really proud of how our guys took the lead and didn't let our foot off the gas," Head Coach Gillentine said. "Our offense was clicking on all cylinders from the third inning on and we had some really clutch moments throughout the game. I can't say enough about the job our bullpen did in that game to keep them down. Winn White had a monster performance and I'm looking forward to seeing him build off that moving forward. I think this game proved to us that we are going to be able to compete with anyone that we face this year."

Game 2: East Central 12, MDCC 1

Game two saw East Central jump out to a 7–0 lead after three innings. The Trojans' lone run came in the second inning on a solo home run by Avery Rodgers (#20), cutting the deficit to 6–1 at the time.

East Central continued to generate offense throughout the contest, securing a 12–1 victory.

"Obviously not how you want any game to go, but you have to tip your cap to East Central, they were swinging a hot bat today and sometimes it's just not going to go your way," Gillentine said. "That's just the way this game goes sometimes. The positives I will take from it though were how we played with energy and focus throughout the whole game. We didn't make any errors on defense and we kept the walks to a minimum. They were just the better team today."

By Earl Lynch Jr