Barnes' walk-off lifts Indians past Jones County, 8-7
Adam Gore/LetsGoICC.com
FULTON, MS - Kaleb Barnes stepped up with walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh to help give the Indians a 8-7 win after seeing the lead slip away in the top of the inning.
With two outs in the bottom of the seventh of a 7-7 game against Jones County (31-3, 14-2 MACJC), Barnes stepped to the plate after Keith Stepter (Hernando) was hit by a pitch with bases loaded to tie the game.
After bringing the count to 2-1, the freshman from Pontotoc drilled a pitch to shallow left-center before the center fielder could secure a diving catch allowing Drake Rowton (Marion, AR) to jog home and the Indians storm the field in celebration of the victory.
The Indians (17-15, 5-11 MACJC) jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning after Delvin Zinn (Pontotoc) tripled to start the game and scored on a single by Hagan Box (French Camp). Box scored on a ground out by Bryan Malone (Belmont) before Rowton drove in Wheeler on a two-out double and later scored on a single by Tyreque Reed (Houlka).
ICC tacked on an insurance run in the second when Zinn singled, stole second, advanced on an error and scored on a wild pitch.
The Bobcats got back in the game with three runs in top of the third inning. The Indians got the run back in the bottom of the sixth when Ben Seay (Mooreville) scored on a wild pitch to give the Indians a 6-3 lead heading into the final frame.
Jones County rallied behind a bases loaded double to score three runs and pushed across the go-ahead run on a hard-hit single to left to take the lead for the first time in Game 2.
Wheeler opened the door for Barnes' late-game heroics by reaching on an error to start the bottom of the seventh and scoring when Stepter was hit by a pitch.
Zinn, Reed and Austin Carpenter (Belmont) each had a pair of hits, with Carpenter adding a double to the Idnians' 13-hit performance.
John Morgan Payne (Belmont) improved to 5-3 on the season after giving up seven runs, five earned, on 10 hits and 2 walks while striking out 5 in the complete game victory.
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Barnes’ walk-off lifts Indians past Jones County, 8-7
Jones College
7
Itawamba CC
8
Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Jones College (0-0) | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 13 | 2 |
Itawamba CC (0-0) | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 11 | 2 |
Posted: Apr 09, 2016