Jones County Junior College’s Fred Franklin steals second base as East Central Community College’s Cooper Clement leaps for the ball Tuesday afternoon in Decatur.

DECATUR — This season might be former West Lauderdale alumnus Fred Franklin’s second at Jones County Junior College, but the Bobcats’ lead-off hitter hasn’t shown any signs of suffering a sophomore slump.

Franklin ripped two hits in five plate appearances Tuesday afternoon and scored two runs to go along with a stolen base as No. 1-ranked Jones County defeated No. 6-ranked East Central Community College 7-4 in Game 1 of a scheduled doubleheader. Ben Stiglets earned the win on the mound. 

“As a lead-off hitter, I want to be the one to score the first run and be the one to get the game started and everybody fired up,” Franklin said. “I tell them what to do in the box, like what the pitcher’s throwing and what all he has. I want to be the guy to get them ready.”

The early week matchup was the first between the squads since Jones County defeated East Central 6-5 last May to clinch the Region 23 Title in a win the Bobcats would ride to a school-first NJCAA Division II baseball championship. East Central used a walk-off single last year to earn a 13-12 win over the Bobcats which claimed the Warriors the MACJC state championship.

Franklin opened Game 1 with a single to center. He stole second and landed on third base after an East Central (20-6) throwing error. Shelton Wallace knocked Franklin home with a double to center to give Jones County (25-1) a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning.

Caleb Ledet laid down a bunt to begin the top of the fifth, which Franklin followed with his own bunt, placing Bobcat runners on first and second base with no outs. Wallace cleared the bases with a stand-up double to score Ledet and Franklin and make the score 3-0 in Jones County’s favor. Wallace later scored in the frame.

“First of all, whenever you come to Decatur, you’re going to have a fight,” Bobcats head coach Chris Kirtland said. “They’re always a never-give-up type bunch, and they’re a heck of a team. But our mindset is the same from one opponent to another. Our job is to come out here and execute and try to win a baseball game. It’s not easy to win a baseball game, and I’m proud of our guys for doing it.”

Luther Woullard and Ledet added runs in the top of the sixth, pushing the Bobcats’ lead to 6-0.

Luke Yancey gave East Central its first run of the game with a lead-off home run to right field. Former Newton County standout Jacob Edwards followed Yancey’s round-tripper with a single courtesy of a soft liner to center field, and Nathan Roseberry moved Edwards to third base with a double to center field. Edwards scored on a wild pitch, and Roseberry scored after Billy Cameron sacrificed him home to trim the deficit to 6-3.

“We like our team — we’ve liked it from day one,” East Central head coach Neal Holliman said. “We like our personnel, and we like the way we’ve competed. I was disappointed in some things there, but those are things we’ll work on.”

Newton County Academy alumnus Ty Alderman launched a solo home run to center field in the bottom of the seventh to make the score 6-4, but Tanner Huddleston added the Bobcats’ final run with an RBI single from Hudson Harris.

“We’re very aggressive at the plate, and we have a winner’s mentality, I would say,” Franklin said. “Even if we are down, which we weren’t today, we’re going to give what we have to give, and we’re going to do what we have to do to win.” 

Game 2

JONES COUNTY 11, ECCC 6

In Game 2, the Diamond Warriors fell behind early when Jones County pushed six runs across the plate in the top of the first. 

The Bobcats scored via a double, a stolen base and two home runs in the first for the lead, and they would not surrender it.

ECCC closed its deficit to 7-4 after scoring on a single by Edwards and Jones’ error in the second, but the Bobcats scored every inning except the fifth to run away with the lead. 

Cole Gray of Lamar School took the loss for Warriors. He tossed one and one-third innings, surrendering seven runs on six hits.

Edwards went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and a score, while Brandon Clark of Neshoba Central High School went 3-for-4 with two RBIs.

ECCC will host Mississippi Delta Community College at 2 p.m. Saturday in the Clark-Gay Baseball Complex.  

ECCC’s Tierra Robinson contributed to this report.