Behind reigning NJCAA National Champion Brandt Garon’s 66, the Meridian Community College golf team is tied for the Red Wolf Intercollegiate lead after Monday’s first round at Ridge Point Country Club in Jonesboro, Ark. The Eagles’ 7-under-par 281 has them knotted with the University of Central Arkansas, three shots ahead of Jacksonville State and six shots better than host Arkansas State and Louisiana-Monroe. MCC is the lone junior college program competing in the Intercollegiate, which concludes today. The other 17 teams competing are NCAA Division I programs.

    Garon is in second place individually as Central Arkansas’ Gideon Pienaar shot a 65. Joining the sophomore near the top of the leaderboard is freshman Easton Key, a former Lamar standout. Key shot a 3-under 69 in the first round. Adam Monsen is tied for eighth with an opening round 70. Alexander Grannon shot a 76 to round out the Eagles’ scoring. MCC’s No. 1 Jake Stirling struggled to an 81, 10-over par.

— Jamie Wachter

Wallace, Brown in contention at MACJC Championship

    After Monday’s first round of the MACJC State Championship at Deerfield Country Club, East Mississippi’s Weston Wallace and East Central’s Luke Brown are part of a six-man tie for sixth. Shooting a 4-over-par 76, Wallace and Brown are just three shots behind Copiah-Lincoln’s Colby Woodward for the lead.

    EMCC is in fourth, shooting 25-over 313, while ECCC is in sixth with a 34-over 322. Gulf Coast leads the tournament with a 17-over 305.

    Joining Wallace in scoring for the Lions are Ian McAdams (77), Andrew Spiers (80), Tyler Slocum (80) and Zachary Bailey (85).

    Rounding out the Warriors’ scoring are Hayden Weaver (79), Cole Harris (83), Daniel Moody (84) and Crosby McDonald (86).

— Jamie Wachter

PREP SOFTBALL

Enterprise    7

Mize    0

    Hayleigh Harper allowed just one hit while striking out nine Monday in a Division 7-2A game.

    Behind Harper’s shutout, Enterprise rolled in improving to 17-5 overall and 6-0 in division. Bethany Volking’s single and double and Blair Hennington’s two singles paced the Bulldogs.

    Morgan Porter and Brittany Haguewood each had a single and RBI, while Emmalee Roberts drove in two runs and Randa Mathis added a double.

    Enterprise visits Bay Springs today.

— Jamie Wachter

LOCAL GOLF

Sikes records hole-in-one at Northwood CC

    Parson Tom Sikes hit a hole-in-one on the No. 7 hole at Northwood Country Club during the First Christian Church MCC Relay for Life tournament. Sikes used a 9-iron to cover the 130 yards while playing with Sean Covich, Dr. David Pettey, Josh Ellis and Pete Willis.

— from submitted reports

LATE JUCO BASEBALL

East Central    11-8

Gulf Coast    0-4

    DECATUR — Southpaw Colton Mitchell hurled a no-hitter, Charles Hill belted two home runs and Carlos Leal contributed a dinger to lead East Central Community College to a shutout of Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in the first of two victories against the then-division-leading Bulldogs on Saturday afternoon at the Clark/Gay Baseball Complex.

     The Diamond Warriors took the second contest as several Warriors again found success with the long ball. Tyler Brant blasted two home runs, and Hill and B.J. Martin each homered.

     Following the doubleheader sweep, East Central improved to 21-13 overall and 8-6 in the MACJC South Division. The Diamond Warriors are currently fourth in league play.

     In recording the no-hitter, Mitchell fanned six batters and allowed just two base runners, both of whom reached base after being hit by a pitch.

     Hill also contributed a single and went 3-for-3 in the opener with four RBIs. His two-run blast in the bottom of the fifth ended the game. His first dinger was a solo blast in the fourth inning. Leal added a single to his first-game stats and was credited with two RBIs. His two-run homer in the second inning gave EC a 3-0 lead.

     In the second game, Brant added a double to his two home runs and was the top run producer with three RBIs. He belted a two-run homer in the third inning and registered a solo blast in the fourth.

     Starter Pervis Mann picked up the win. Mann, a southpaw, allowed two earned runs on four hits. He also fanned two batters and walked one.  

    The Diamond Warriors travel to Hinds Community College on Wednesday at 3 p.m. on the Raymond campus.

— from school reports

Itawamba    7-7

East Mississippi    2-5

    FULTON — At the season’s midway point of league play, the Lions fell twice on the road to division foe Itawamba CC in junior college baseball action Saturday afternoon at Crubaugh Field. 

     With both teams battling for position within the MACJC’s North Division standings, the Indians improved to 9-5 in league play to take over third place from EMCC, which fell to 8-6 within the division. The Lions are bidding for their first postseason berth since 2004.

     In the opener, the Indians broke out of the gates early with a quick 3-0 lead on Jake Smithey’s three-run home run in the bottom of the first inning. After the visitors got one of the runs back the next frame on a two-out RBI single by Jake Upton, Itawamba answered with two more runs in the home half of the second to move ahead 5-1.

      In the nightcap, EMCC grabbed an early 1-0 lead by plating an unearned run on Zane Migues’ RBI double after Mitch Bohon had reached on an error.  Migues would add a fifth-inning single to post his second straight 2-for-4 hitting effort of the afternoon.

    The Lions, now 10-23 overall on the year, travel to Moorhead to meet Mississippi Delta in a Wednesday afternoon doubleheader.

— from school reports

LATE JUCO GOLF

EMCC’s Wallace claims state’s top award

     SCOOBA — East Mississippi Community College freshman Weston Wallace has earned the state’s Hubert Tucker Award for having the lowest composite scoring average among Mississippi’s junior college golfers during the 2011 regular season.

     Wallace claimed the coveted honor by firing a season-best 69 to capture individual medalist honors during final-round action of this past week’s fourth MACJC spring event, hosted by EMCC at the Mississippi State University Golf Course. As an automatic MACJC All-State First Team selection, Wallace becomes the first golfer in EMCC history to win an official MACJC golf event with the help of one of the best one-round scores ever posted on the school’s all-time leader board.

     Finishing the regular season with a state-best 75.75 stroke average on the year, Wallace had to come from behind in becoming the first player in EMCC history to claim the state’s stroke average leader award, named in honor of a former Northeast Mississippi CC football coach killed in an 1995 automobile accident.

     As the recipient of this year’s Hubert Tucker Award, Wallace also garners an automatic invitation to compete in next month’s NJCAA National Golf Championship, slated for May 17-20 at Goose Pond Colony in Scottsboro, Ala.

— from school reports

ECCC golfer scores ace in JUCO event

     East Central Community College sophomore golfer Crosby McDonald of Carthage made a hole-in-one while participating with team members in the East Mississippi Community College Invitational held April 3-4 at the Mississippi State University golf course in Starkville.

     McDonald aced the par-three number 10 using a pitching wedge during first-round action. It was the Leake Academy product’s second hole-in-one but first ace in tournament competition.

     “It was very exciting…and there was a lot of yelling when the ball went into the hole!” said McDonald of his accomplishment. “It was a moment I’ll never forget.”

     McDonald’s and the Warrior linksters carded a 665 (330-335) and finished ninth in the 36-hole event, won by Northwest Mississippi Community College, which shot 606 (311-295). Mississippi Gulf Coast finished second at 611 (315-296), followed by East Mississippi, 612 (315-297), Copiah-Lincoln, 617 (316-301), Hinds, 634 (325-309), Jones County, 653 (332-321), Itawamba, 653 (322-331), ECCC and Holmes, 680 (347-333).

     Luke Brown of Carthage led ECCC with a 10 over par 152 (79-73) and tied for seventh. Other scorers were Cole Harris of Decatur, 161 (83-78), Colby McLain of Philadelphia, 176 (88-88), McDonald, 176 (89-87), Hayden Weaver of Decatur, 180 (83-97) and Daniel Moody of Carthage, 182 (85-97).

— from school reports

LATE JUCO RODEO

EMCC men’s rodeo team places seventh at Northwest

     SENATOBIA — The East Mississippi Community College men’s rodeo team placed seventh at this week’s Landers Dodge Ranger Rodeo. Hosted by Northwest Mississippi CC, the three-day event concluded Saturday and was held at NWCC’s Multipurpose Arena.

     In the third rodeo on the NIRA’s Ozark Region spring slate, the Lions totaled 250 points while scoring in three events. Region front-runner Missouri Valley College claimed men’s team honors with 610 points, edging runner-up Southern Arkansas University (550 points) and the University of West Alabama (530).

     In the women’s team competition, Southern Arkansas earned the title with 325 total points, just ahead of Troy University and Missouri Valley with 300 and 280 team points, respectively.

     For EMCC, freshman Will Lummus placed third in the steer wrestling event to collect 110 points. He entered the NWCC rodeo ranked second in the regional steer wrestling standings.

     Fellow EMCC freshman Winston Cheek stayed in the mix among the region’s top bull riders with a second-place finish (100 points) in this week’s event.        Rounding out the Lions’ scoring this week at Northwest Mississippi, Eric Ford earned 40 points for EMCC with a sixth-place showing in the calf roping competition.

     The EMCC rodeo team will close out the 2011 regular-season spring schedule this week at the 43rd annual UT-Martin spring college rodeo in Martin, Tenn.

— from school reports