Postseason P review

THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME FOR TIGERS

There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home. It worked for Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz and it has worked for the Northeast Mississippi Community College baseball team.

After starting the 2023 season with most of its games on the road, Northeast has returned to the friendly confines of the NEMCC Baseball/Softball Complex and found success during the latter part of the season.

Northeast only played four games at home in February and saw 20 of its first 28 games on the road before making a return to the college’s $8.4 million ultra-modern facility.

Northeast (31-19) wasted little time in making things right and as the calendar turned to April, the Tigers found their rhythm and pieced together an 8-2 mark at home against some of the top competition in the Mississippi Association of Community Colleges Conference.

Northeast swept Northwest Mississippi (14-4, 152) on April 12, Holmes (14-2, 8-7) on April 18 and wrapped up its regular season home slate with a sweep of Mississippi Gulf Coast (9-2, 8-6) on April 28.

Tiger faithful have turned out en masse for Northeast’s 22 home games on the year with nearly 2,500 spectators packing The Plex during the 2023 baseball season.

However, it was a road victory that secured the Tigers hosting role in the National Junior College Athletic Association’s Region 23 First Round. Northeast knocked off Hinds 16-3 in its final game of the regular season The Tigers collected 19 hits, 16 RBI and banged out four home runs in the seven-inning affair.

With the win, Northeast and Jones tied with an 18-10 mark in the MACCC and due to league tiebreaker, the Tigers earned the hosting role over the Bobcats.

Northeast and Jones will face off in a best-of-three series starting on Thursday, May 4 at 6 p.m. Second game of the series is set for 3 p.m. on Friday, May 5 and the ‘if necessary’ game is slated for 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 6.

All games in the series will be broadcast on NEMCCTV.com’s “Black Channel.”

Winners in the first round of the NJCAA Region 23 Tournament will advance to the tournament’s host site in Eunice, Louisiana on the campus of LSUEunice to complete the rest of the tournament beginning on Monday, May 15. The NJCAA Division II College World Series is set to be played in Enid, Oklahoma beginning on Saturday, May 27. Northeast’s hosting role actually came down to a miraculous comeback…at home in April. Due to league tiebreakers, teams that finish with the same record are compared to how they did against other teams in the league starting with the league champion and working down through the ranks.

Both Jones and Northeast were swept by East Central, but a ninth inning comeback against Meridian on Saturday, April 22 proved to be the difference for the Tigers. Northeast posted five runs in the ninth inning against the Eagles to take a 12-11 victory on just two hits in the frame and the Tigers were down 11-5 in the seventh before posting seven straight runs to claw their way back into the contest.

Northeast vs. Jones

Northeast (31-19) and Jones (33-15) have faced off twice this year with both teams taking a win at The Plex on Saturday, April 15. Northeast runruled Jones in a mercy-rule seven-inning 10-0 decision behind a masterful effort on the mound by Davis Oswalt.

Oswalt went 6.2 innings during the opener against the Bobcats, striking out four and limiting the Jones offense to just seven hits while the Tigers put up 10 runs on the Bobcat pitching staff. At the plate, the duo of Jackson Owen and Jackson McCoy combined for five RBI in the win.

However, in the nightcap, Jones got a little revenge and knocked off Northeast 17-6 in a contest that caused the Tigers to used eight pitchers against the Bobcats and saw the Tiger starter not record an out before being removed from the game. Nevertheless, Northeast’s offense kept the pressure on Jones and each team recorded 11 hits in the second game of the day. In the win, Galtin Sanders, the Bobcat third baseman, led Jones with two doubles and a home run while scoring three runs and accounting for five RBI.

Since 2008, Jones holds a 22-9 mark in the series and is 8-2 in the last 10 games against Northeast. Northeast 10-0 win on April 15 was the first win for the Tigers in Booneville since Northeast edged out a 5-4 decision on March 13, 2021, in eight innings. Before that win, Northeast’s last win against Jones in the City of Hospitality came via a 14-10 victory on April 21, 2010.

Statistical Comparison

Northeast comes into the three-game series against Jones College leading all the major offensive categories. The Tigers are batting .316 on the year while the Bobcats are just under the .300mark as a team with a .299 average. While playing two more games than the Bobcats, the Tigers have put up 37 more runs. Northeast eclipsed the 400-run plateau in its last regular season game when the Tigers laid 16 runs on Hinds. In 48 games, Jones has scored 369 markers. Even the long ball has gone in the favor of Northeast, the Tigers have belted 42 home runs compared to just 33 by Jones and are led by Jackson Owen’s 11.

On-base percentage is close against the Bobcats with Northeast holding a slight edge - .446 to .430. However, the Tigers are more than 50 points ahead of the Bobcats when it comes to the slugging department with Northeast registering a .486 slugging percentage compared to Jones’ .432.

Northeast is just outside the Top 20 nationally with 406 runs – good for No. 21 in the nation while Jones checks in at No. 31 with 369 runs.

Northeast hit blackjack again in the RBI category with 349, good enough for No. 21 in the nation and the Tigers are the sixteenth best team in the nation when it comes to triples with Northeast registering 19 three-baggers on the year.

Jones and Northeast are in a statistical tie after 98 combined games with each team picking up 269 each and both teams are right together with batters being hit by pitches as well. Northeast is No. 12 in the nation with 94 bean balls while Jones is just a few spots back with 91.

Jones ran out to a great start to the season, piecing together a 24-6 record through its first 30 games and even held a 29-7 mark through twothirds of the season, however, the Bobcats finished the year 4-8 and find themselves at The Plex in Booneville for the first round of the postseason.

Northeast Leaders

It has been a full team effort for Northeast in securing a first-round hosting role with each member of the team contributing to the cause.

Leadoff batter Khi Holiday leads the team with 72 runs scored and has appeared in all 50 games for the Tigers. In addition to taking over the runs scored category, Holiday also tops the team with 63 hits. However, fellow Tupelo Christian Prep standout Noah Foster is right behind his teammate with 57.

Kelly Crumpton, Kristian Sprawling and Owen all have double digit two-baggers on the year. Crumpton leads the team with 12 doubles while Owen and Sprawling are right on the Oxford native’s heels with 11 and 10, respectively. Crumpton also leads the team in triples with five.

Owen has come on at the dish and the Mississippi State University signee is the clubhouse leader with 11 home runs while four other Tigers have five home runs on the year – Jackson McCoy, Crumpton, Holiday and Sprawling.

Owen’s 53 RBI have him in a tie for 37th nationally and his 11 dingers are good for 35th nationally.

Foster and Sprawling are in a close battle for the bating average lead with just one-one thousandth of a point separating the two. Going into the postseason, Foster is edging out Sprawling with a .373 average to Sprawling’s .372.

On the mound, Matthew Bullard leads the way with a perfect 9-0 record while Davis Oswalt has six wins and leads the team in complete games. Both Bullard and Oswalt have thrown over 60 innings for the Tigers, while the next closest pitcher is Jackson Conn with 38 innings.

In pitchers, who have appeared in over 10 games, Taylor Ballard leads the team with a 3.92 earn run average while Bullard clocks in with a 4.27 mark and Dylan Bowers has a 4.30 ERA. After coming back from injury, Aidan Foeller has put together solid numbers in limited work for the Tigers and amassed a 4.50 ERA and leads the team with 11.7 strikeouts per nine innings. Bullard’s nine wins on the year place him second in the nation behind three fireballers who have clocked double digit wins on the year – Jamisen Eichacker of Cleveland, Cole Bosewell of Meridian and Connor Benge of LSU-Eunice.

Quick Hitters

Northeast’s 31 wins on the year are the first time since 2013 that a Tiger baseball team has won 30 games since a Kent Farris-led club turned the trick by winning the North Division and then beating Gulf Coast 2-1 in a best-of-three series in the first round of the postseason.

Two wins by the Tigers would tie the single season record for wins in a season. Currently, the 2009 Tiger baseball team holds that distinction after finishing as the North Division runner-up and ironically, hosted Jones College in the first round of the playoffs at Harold T. White Field at Booneville’s Westside City Park.

Owen is just two RBI shy of tying the single season RBI record and the Starkville native needs just two home runs to tie the single season home run mark as well.

When Oswalt makes his next start, he will set the record for most starts in a single season as a Tiger pitcher.

Holiday has already secured the record for most runs scored in a season and needs just one stolen base to tie the record for most stolen bases. Currently, only three players in program history have more than 20 stolen bases in a single season. Ronnie Mulkey swiped 25 bags during the 1991 season and James Sims turned the trick with 25 stolen bases in the 2005 season.

Holiday is also nine hits shy of tying the season hit record, which is held by Northeast Sports Hall of Fame member Chase Porch at 72 in 2008.

Bullard’s nine wins on the mound is already the most wins by a Northeast pitcher in a season and the fireballer is looking to become the first 10-game winner in program history.