Wolves Dominate Bears in Sweep

SUMMIT – The Co-Lin Baseball team hit the road to continue MACCC play face off against Southwest in the Coca-Cola Challenge on Wednesday, April 22. The Wolves swept the Bears taking game one, 11-6, and game two, 9-0.

GAME ONE

The Wolves got on the board first with a pair of runs in the top of the second as Caleb Brooks (Brandon) and Avery Griffin (Brookhaven) drew back-to-back walks while Brady White (Ethel) reached on an error on a bunt to load the bases with no outs. Brooks then scored while Evan Holifield (Stringer) hit into a double play where White was forced out. Bryson Jones (Brandon) then hit an RBI-single scoring Griffin and giving the Wolves a 2-0 lead.

The Bears responded by taking the lead with four runs in the bottom half making the score, 4-2. However, the Wolves also responded with four runs of their own in the top of the third as John Mark Grissom (Pearl) reached base on an error while Matthew Combs (Hurley) drew a walk to put two runners on with no outs. After both runners advanced on a sacrifice bunt, Griffin ripped a two-RBI single scoring Grissom and Combs and tying the game at 4-4. After White hit a single to put runners on the corners with one out, Holifield reached on a fielder's choice on a bunt as Griffin scored on the play to give the Wolves a 5-4 lead. Later in the inning, White scored on a sacrifice fly by Donovan Moore (Roxie) increasing the lead to 6-4.

The Wolves added a single run in the top of the fourth as Combs hit a one-out double and then later scored on a two-out RBI-double by Griffin making the lead, 7-4. The Wolves added another single run in the top of the seventh as Griffin hit a leadoff double and later scored on a one-out RBI-single by Holifield pushing the lead to 8-4.

The Bears plated one run in the bottom of the seventh to cut the lead down to 8-5. However, the Wolves scored three runs in the top of the ninth as Griffin drew a walk, White singled, and Holifield drew a walk to load the bases with one out. Griffin then scored as Jones reached on an error while Moore hit a two-RBI single scoring White and Holifield pushing the lead to 11-5.

The Bears then hit a double and single to start the bottom of the ninth, but then went strikeout, RBI-groundout, groundout to secure the 11-6 game one victory for the Wolves.

The Wolves totaled 11 hits as Avery Griffin went 3-for-3 at the plate while Donovan Moore and Brady White had two hits apiece with Bryson Jones, John Mark Grissom, Matthew Combs, and Evan Holifield had one hit each. Griffin and Moore led the Wolves in RBIs with three each while Jones and Holifield had two RBIs apiece.

Cameron Patterson (Central, LA) got the start and earned a no-decision while pitching one inning and allowing four runs, all earned, on two hits with three walks and one strikeout. Lucian Walker (Starkville) picked up the win and improved to 2-0 with five innings of scoreless relief allowing one hit with two walks and five strikeouts. Caleb Flynn (Laurel) pitched 0.2 innings of relief allowing one earned run on one hit with one walk. Nash Sturdivant (Brandon) pitched 1.1 innings of scoreless relief allowing two hits while Jennings Kimbrell (Flowood) pitched one inning of relief allowing one earned run on two hits with one strikeout.

GAME TWO

The Wolves scored their first run in the top of the first as Bryson Jones and Donovan Moore hit back-to-back singles to start the inning. Later in the inning, Jones scored on a sacrifice fly by John Mark Grissom giving the Wolves a 1-0 lead.

The Wolves added their second run in the top of the second as Griffin hit a double while Brady White was hit-by-pitch to put two runners on with one out. Later in the inning, Griffin scored on a sacrifice fly by Evan Holifield increasing the lead to 2-0.

The Wolves added their third run in the third inning as Bradley Hanlon hit a leadoff single, stole second, took third on a groundout by Grissom, and then scored on an RBI-groundout by Matthew Combs extending the lead to 3-0.

The Wolves then exploded for five runs in the fourth as Griffin drew a leadoff walk to get the offense going. Later in the inning, Holifield crushed a 1-1 pitch over the scoreboard in left field for a two-run home increasing the lead to 5-0. Later in the inning, Moore singled while Hanlon drew a walk to put two runners on with two outs. Both Moore and Hanlon then scored on a two-RBI double by Grissom who then scored on an RBI-single by Combs extending the lead to 8-0.

The Wolves then added their final run in the top of the sixth as Grissom and Combs drew back-to-back walks to put two runners on with one out while later in the inning Griffin drew a walk to load the bases with two outs. Grissom then scored after White was hit-by-pitch making the score, 9-0.

The Bears then got two runners on with two outs in the bottom of the sixth, but a fielder's choice ended the inning with the lead maintained. In the bottom of the seventh the Bears went strikeout, strikeout, triple, strikeout to end the game and secure the game two victory and sweep for the Wolves.

The Wolves totaled 12 hits as Bryson Jones, Donovan Moore, and Caleb Brooks had two hits apiece while Bradley Hanlon, John Mark Grissom, Matthew Combs, Avery Griffin, Brady White, and Evan Holifield had one hit each. Grissom and Holifield led the Wolves in RBIs with three while Combs had two RBIs and White had one.

Wes White (Flowood) improved to 6-4 overall with the complete game win allowing just two hits with one walk and 11 strikeouts.

Co-Lin is now 29-18 overall, 14-10 in MACCC play, and will hit the road for the final time in the regular season to face off against Holmes on Saturday, April 25. First pitch between the Wolves and the Bulldogs is set for 2 p.m., at Charlie Donald Field in Goodman.