Minga fans six, Indians fall 2-1 in extra innings
Adam Gore/LetsGoICC.com
DECATUR, AL -- Sophomore pitcher Collin Minga (Mantachie) threw eight innings of scoreless baseball in Game 2 of Saturday's doubleheader, but a two-out single followed by an error in the bottom of the ninth help Calhoun Community College complete the sweep with a 2-1 victory.
"You can't ask any more out of a pitcher than what Minga gave us today," said ICC skipper Rick Collier. "We just couldn't get any hits to help him out with any kind run support just like we did with (Ben) Hudspeth in the first game."
Minga gave up six hits and struck out six and didn't walk any of the 28 batters he faced.
"You are suppose to win games win you get that kind of effort on the mound," Collier commented. "You aren't suppose to win games when you only have five hits in nine innings. It has to been be a sense of pride to get behind these pitchers when they are dealing to make something happen with the bats to take some of the pressure off of them."
The Indians (0-2, 0-0 MACJC North) took a 1-0 lead in the top of the ninth when Jake Smith (Columbus) started the inning with a double to center and scored on a sacrifice fly by Cody Shrewsbury (Tupelo).
Robert Harris drew a five-pitch walk from relief pitcher Ben Aldridge (Tupelo) to start the bottom half of the night and was replaced on the bases Kegan Ham.
Aldridge struck out the next War Hawk (5-3) batter before giving up a double to Garret Walters to put runners in scoring position. Collier elected to intentionally walk Connor Kwapiszewski to load the bases in hopes for a double play or force out at home.
Blake Talley rolled a hard-hit ground ball up the middle that got past a diving Tyler Tipton (Shelbyville, KY) to score Ham before Walters scored on bobbled the ball in centerfield allowing the War Hawks to complete the sweep on an fielding error.
"It was just that kind of day," said Collier. "We came out flat and really missed those sophomores from last year that we could count on to get the guys fired up and have some life about them. Hopefully things will be a lot different next time out."
Shrewsbury went 2-for-3 with a pair of singles and a RBI while Smith added a double and scored a run. Brent Younger (Columbus) and Brayden Owen (Tupelo) each had a single in the loss.
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