SENTOBIA – The Northwest Mississippi Community College baseball team (20-11, 7-3) picked up a split with another ranked MACCC opponent, earning a 14-3 run rule win over #18 Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College (20-13, 5-7) in their opening game before dropping the second game 12-0 on Saturday afternoon at Jim Miles Field.
"We got a good outing from Tyce and there were a lot of things that went our way," Head Coach Mark Carson said of the game one win. "We swung the bat really well and continued what we've been doing for the last three weeks playing good baseball. It was a good win and I thought our kids played well and did what we are supposed to do at home against a good team.
"Game two was a bit of a different animal. We knew they were throwing their number one in game two and it was going to be tough. We didn't get off to a good start, and you add those two factors in and usually it's a recipe for a not good result."
GAME 1 – NWCC 14 #18 Mississippi Gulf Coast 3 (7 innings)
The Rangers picked up a quick start to their opening win over the Bulldogs, jumping out in front in the bottom of the second inning when a two-out rally was kicked off by a single from Caleb Doty and a double from John Whit Snopek in the bottom of the order to put runners on second and third for the Rangers.
After a walk to Corey Watkins, Mason Gillentine would send the first pitch he saw from Griffen Wells over the left field fence for a grand slam and a four-run lead which would b all the cushion that the team would need in the game.
"He's just a great baseball player. Just a dirtbag. He's one of those guys that you just build off of," Snopek said.
MGCCC would answer with their only run they would use a hit batter and a passed ball to set up an RBI single to cut the lead to 4-1 but that would be their only strike against Northwest's starter Tyce Powers, who would go five innings on the way to his third win of the season.
"I've been telling Tyce since last year, if he does what he does he's a Friday night DI starter," Snopek, said. "He's my roommate too, so it's fun to see him go pitch because he cares so much about it. It's easy to feed off of him because he's such a good pitcher."
The offense picked up the lost run in the bottom of the third with a sacrifice fly from Doty that scored Barrett McKenney.
That kicked off a stretch of ten unanswered runs. A four-run fourth saw another power display for the Rangers after Watkins led off with a double and Gillentine blasted his second home run of the day to make it 7-1, and another two runs were stacked on with a single from South McCoy to make it 9-1.
Two more were added on in the bottom of the sixth after Snopek and Watkins led off the inning with back-to-back solo home runs, extending the Northwest advantage to 11-1 and putting the run-rule into effect.
"By the grace of the Lord I was seeing it well today, and it was fun to hit those and look in the dugout and see the support because we have great teammates that push us and support us," Snopek said after his, and the team's power display. "The hard work pays off."
Another three runs came in the bottom of the sixth when Snopek hit his second home run of the year with two outs and McCoy and Doty on base ahead of him after an error extended the inning, pushing the lead up to 14-1.
Gideon Deaton came into the game in the top of the seventh to close the game out, and after getting touched up for two runs, gave way to Preston Johnson who closed the game out with Northwest earning the 14-3 win for their fifth consecutive win, marking their longest winning streak of the year.
"You win five in a row in this league and that's really good," Carson said. "I feel really good about where we are and what we are doing."
GAME 2 – NWCC 0 Mississippi Gulf Coast 12 (5 innings)
The Bulldogs turned to their ace in the second game of the double header as the Rangers threw Eli Deberry, who was coming off of his best start of the year, going five innings in a complete game run-rule win over Meridian just a week earlier.
Unfortunately for Deberry, it was a rough start with the first three batters reaching base and all three coming around to score, with the big blow a two-run single that capped off the inning.
Another pair of runs scored in the top of the second inning as Johnson was called on again out of the bullpen after a single, a walk, and a hit batter were the results of the first three batters of the inning for Deberry. Johnson worked out of the frame with only two of the runs scoring, but it still put the Rangers in a 5-0 hole early.
The third inning would go by scoreless, but two more runs came across for MGCCC in the top of the second after Tyler Sullivan was called upon and gave up a two-run double with one out before he was able to get out of the inning, and the final blows would come in the top of the fifth after Russell Robbins was brough out of the bullpen and gave up a grand slam to push the lead to 12-0 after a five run inning for the visitors.
Offensively, the Rangers couldn't find any traction against James Vines, who entered the game as one of the top pitchers in the MACCC this season, only managing two hits in the game and three total base runners.
Northwest did threaten in the bottom of the fifth, putting runners on first and second with just one out, but the trail runner would be caught off of second base after a ball in the dirt to end the rally, the inning, and the game as Northwest would fall 12-0 in five innings.
UP NEXT –
The Rangers will look to take their success into a road test against Coahoma Community College (9-21, 1-10) on Tuesday afternoon when they travel to the Eddie C. Smith Sportsplex in Clarksdale for a double header with the Tigers.
"It's like I just told them at the end of the game, you have to get off of the mat now and get on a bus to Coahoma on Tuesday and get back on the right side," Carson said.
The two sides met in a non-conference game on March 6th where the Tigers came away with an 8-6 win, coming from behind to knock off the Rangers.
First pitch of the double header is scheduled for 1 PM with game two to follow at 4 PM. The first game is a scheduled nine-inning game with a seven-inning game to follow. You can find streaming information online at nwccrangers.com.
Keep up with Ranger athletics and schedule changes by following Northwest social media accounts.
