ELLISVILLE – The regular season came to a close for the #23 Northwest Mississippi Community College baseball team (31-18, 18-10) in a wild fashion thanks to some rainy weather, a relocated game, and two contests that went into extra innings on Wednesday and Thursday against #11 Jones College (35-16, 18-10), with the opening game taking place at The Bank before game two was moved to Smith-Wills Field in Jackson due to excessive rain in Ellisville on Wednesday evening.
The Rangers dropped the opening game 3-2 on a heartbreaking walk-off single by the Bobcats, but they picked up a measure of revenge thanks to a nine-inning 6-3 victory in game two, picking up a split and helping to sow chaos into the MACCC postseason seeding in the process.
GAME 1 – #23 NWCC 2 #11 Jones 3 (11 Innings)
It was a tight affair through the opening innings as both the Rangers and the Bobcats had their chances in the first three innings, but both starters were able to work through trouble.
Derrin Randle didn't allow a hit through the first three innings, stranding six runners that reached on walks and hit batters, including a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the second to keep the game scoreless.
Northwest was the first to strike, loading the bases themselves in the top of the fourth before a one-out single by John Whit Snopek brought home Walker Sanders and Mason McMillin after they had led off the inning with a pair of singles.
The Bobcats did answer with a run of their own in the bottom of the inning, thanks to a wild pitch and a throwing error by Hallas Lawson to close the game to a 2-1 score.
Northwest picked up baserunners in the sixth and seventh innings, but both times the Bobcats were able to get out through the innings with no damage done, and Randle would work into the eighth inning in one of his best appearances of the season, finishing with 7.2
A leadoff walk in the bottom of the seventh inning leads to an RBI double that tied the game at two in the Bobcats, and the game stayed that way into the ninth inning as Sullivan came in and retired the side in order in the ninth inning after a caught stealing got the Rangers out of the eighth inning.
In their first extra innings action in conference play, Northwest got the leadoff runner on but were thrown out trying to steal second to shut down the rally before it could get started. Sullivan worked a clean bottom of the tenth, but trouble came forward in the bottom of the eleventh when the Bobcats got runners on first and second with one out, setting up an RBI single that brought home the winning run to give Jones the win 3-2.
The loss eliminated the Rangers' chance at hosting one of the Region 23 tournament sites, with game two becoming an important one for seeding purposes.
GAME 2 – #23 NWCC 6 #11 Jones 3 (9 Innings)
A pitchers' duel developed in the early stages of game two as Caleb Doty was lights out for Northwest through the first three innings while the offense took some time to get the wheels in motion. Doty had a no-hitter going until a homerun by Chase Russell would give the Bobcats the lead in the bottom of the fourth with one out.
The Rangers answered back in the top of the fifth with a big inning of their own, loading the bases with a walk to Evan Lightsey and two hit batters, setting up a bases-loaded walk to Preston Johnson that tied the game at one.
A wild pitch plated another with Hayes Hooker coming home, and Snopek brought home Lake Reed with a sacrifice fly to right to put Northwest in command 3-1 going into the bottom half.
Jones answered back immediately, getting a pair of singles to lead off the inning and advancing both runners two bases on a wild pitch, scoring one to close it to a 3-2 game. A single to left field would tie the game at 3-3, but Doty was able to limit the damage thanks to a sacrifice bunt and a groundout to third.
The game would stall into a pitchers' duel for a second time, with each side going quietly in the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings, helped by a pair of double plays induced by Doty in the sixth and seventh innings. He would be relieved by South McCoy in the eighth and the freshman reliever kept it scoreless through the frame to send it to the ninth.
Northwest used walks again to get traffic on the bases with Barrett McKenney leading off with a free pass followed by a full count walk to McCoy. A groundout to second moved both runners up, and after Josh Pena was intentionally walked, Reed came in clutch with a single to right field to plate the go-ahead run.
Johnson followed with a single of his own to give a bit of cushion to the lead, and an error on a ground ball by Snopek extended it to a three-run advantage at 6-3. A double play ended the top half, but the damage was already done.
McCoy worked through a leadoff single by the Bobcats to strand the runner at second to close the game and pick up the win in relief for his fourth of the season, picking up his 40th strikeout on the year as well.
UP NEXT –
The Rangers finished the regular season in a tie with Jones and Copiah-Lincoln Community College in the MACCC standings, with all three teams going 18-10 in conference play, so the seeding came down to tiebreakers and the Rangers earned the six seed in the upcoming Region 23 Tournament. They will go to Decatur, where East Central Community College (43-11, 20-8) will be hosting a regional. They will face off against Itawamba Community College (32-17, 19-9), who enter the tournament as the third seed.
Keep up to date with where the Rangers will be traveling to at nwccrangers.com or by following along on Northwest social media accounts.
