East Central’s historic baseball season came to an end just one win shy of playing for the national championship.
The Warriors fell 2-1 to Brunswick College on Friday in the semifinals of the NJCAA Division II World Series in Enid, Okla.
The Warriors finish the season with a 55-9 record and set a school record for wins.
ECCC 6, South Arkansas 4
The Warriors used solid pitching and defense to take a two-run win over the Stars in an elimination game on Wednesday.
The game was tied 1-1 after five innings before East Central scored three in the sixth and one in the seventh and eighth. The Stars scored three in the seventh for the final margin.
East Central outhit South Arkansas 7-6 in the contest. Marvin Jackson doubled and drove in two runs while Mo Little tripled and scored two runs. Brady McGee and Barret Rodgers each singled and scored while Trey Bridges doubled and drove in a run.
Chris Billingsley started on the mound and got the win, giving up three runs on two hits and five walks while striking out eight to pick up the win. Connor Aplin pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings to pick up the save, striking out four.
ECCC 13, Madison College 4
The Warriors used a trio of big innings to take a run-rule win over the Wolfpack in the second game of the day on Wednesday.
East Central scored five in the first and then added four in the second and sixth to take the win.
The Warriors outhit Madison 15-6 in the contest. Jayden Adcox had a huge game, going 4-for-4 with two doubles, two runs scored and five RBIs while Nick Arender was 3-for-3 with a triple and three RBIs. Mo Little was 2-for-3 with three runs scored while John Leyton Lewis was 2-for-4 with two runs scored. Trey Bridges was 2-for-3 with two runs scored and two RBIs.
Evan Folse started on the mound and picked up the win, pitching up 3 1/3 innings and giving up four runs on five hits and five walks. Reid Hall pitched the final three innings and struck out four.
ECCC 5, Brunswick 3
The Warriors got a solid relief performance from Parker Martin and took a two-run win over the Dolphins on Thursday.
Each team scored one in the first while East Central scored three in the fifth and one in the sixth.
The Warriors outhit the Dolphins 10-8 and took advantage of four errors. Barret Rodgers was 2-for-4 and scored two runs while Nic Arender was 2-for-4 Langston Cotten and Trey Bridges each singled and drove in a run while Brady McGee singled and scored a run.
Eli Smith started on the mound and pitched four innings, giving up three runs on four hits. Martin picked up the win, pitching five scoreless innings while scattering four hits and two walks.
Brunswick 2, ECCC 1
The Dolphins got a solid relief pitching performance and took a one-run win over the Warriors to advance to the championship game on Friday.
East Central scored one in the third while Brunswick scored two in the sixth and held on to take the win.
East Central outhit Brunswick 6-5 in the contest. Nic Arender was 2-for-4 with a solo home run. Brady McGee, Barret Rodgers and Mo Little also had singles.
Marbin Lezcano pitched 5 2/3 innings and gave up two runs on three hits and six walks while striking out two. Riley Passman got one out and allowed two hits while Rex Henderson pitched the last three innings in relief.
