Walker’s four home runs power NWCC against Coahoma
Sophomore outfielder Seth Walker collected four home runs in eight at-bats to spark the Northwest Mississippi Community College Rangers to a doubleheader sweep of the Coahoma Tigers April 18 in Senatobia.
The Rangers won the opener 11-1 and claimed the nightcap 11-10.
The victories kept Northwest tied with the Northeast Tigers for second place in the MACJC?north division standings. Both the Rangers and the Tigers own 14-6 division records with four north games left on the schedule.
Northwest, which moved its overall record to 24-17-1, got an awesome performance from Walker. The Covington, Tenn., native homered twice in both games of the doubleheader to push his season total to 12. All four of Walker’s homers came in his first two at-bats of each contest.
The Rangers collected five home runs in the opening game. Freshman Joel Rich of Southaven hit his third round-tripper of the spring with a two-run blast in the first inning, while sophomore Matt James of Nesbit picked up his fourth of the season with a solo shot in the third frame.
Soiphomore Alan Mathis of Memphis hit a two-run blast in the fourth inning for his fourth home run of the season.
Walker, James, and Rich all totaled two hits each for Northwest which had nine hits in all.
Ranger sophomore pitcher Wes Grilliette of Oxford tossed the first three innings and earned the victory to improve hos record to 6-2. Grilliette allowed just two hits, while striking out two.
Grilliette survived a a scary incident in the third inning by taking a line drive off the side of his head. He was taken to a hospital where several tests were run, but fortunately all results came back negative.
That wasn’t the only scary incident for Northwest on this day.
The Rangers found themselves tied with Coahoma at 10-10 headed into the bottom of the seventh inning.
Northwest plated the winning run in its last at-bat when Walker scored from third on a sacrifice fly to the second baseman by James.
Coahoma grabbed a 5-0 advantage in the first frame, but the Rangers responded with a pair of solo homers by Walker and a two-run blast by Davis Horton of Oxford to take an 8-5 lead after four innings.
Northwest led 10-8 headed into the seventh inning after an RBI-single by Rick Russell of Olive Branch.
The Tigers tied the contest at 10-10 in the top of the seventh.
Ranger pitcher Jeffrey Vance of Water Valley threw the last two innings in relief to get the win and up his record to 7-2.
Northwest will host Itawamba Tuesday, April 21 in Senatobia. The doubleheader starts at 1 p.m.
