JENKS - Rallying with three runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings, the No. 3 seed Northeastern A&M Golden Norsemen defeated No. 5 seed Eastern State College 10-9 Friday night in the second round of the Men's Division 1 Region 2 Baseball Tournament at Jenks High School's Hinch Field.
With the victory, coach Roger Ward's Golden Norse carry a 32-15 season record into Saturday's winner's bracket semifinals at noon against No. 1 seed Connors State College (47-9).
Because of a postponement of Thursday''s opening round game, coach Perry Keith's 11th ranked Cowboys had to finish their game with No. 6 seed Arkansas Baptist College before eliminating Rose State College (28-25) by a 5-3 score late Friday night.
The Cowboys actually trailed the Arkansas Baptist Buffaloes 8-5 through six innings when heavy rain and lightning forced postponement Thursday night. Connors scored a run in the bottom of the ninth inning to hand the Buffaloes (27-31) a come-from-behind 11-10 defeat.
Arkansas Baptist dropped a 15-4 decision to No. 2 seed Seminole State College (37-17) in Friday's first full game of the second round. Seminole fell into the loser's bracket after being upset 11-5 by Eastern (25-29) on Thursday.
Ironically the two teams squared off at 3:30 p.m. Saturday in an elimination game. The loser of the NEO-Connors game faced the Seminole-Eastern winner at 7 p.m. Saturday.
The regional championship game starts at 1 p.m. Sunday. An "if necessary" second title game would be played at 4 p.m.
Winner of the Region 2 Tournament will host three-team South Central District scheduled for May 16-18. Joining the Region 2 winner are champions from Region 16 (comprised of eight schools from Missouri) and Region 23 from Louisiana (Baton Rouge and Delgado) and Mississippi (Meridian).
The South Central District winner earns a berth in the Men's Division 1 National Junior College Athletic Association World Series slated for May 25-June 1 in Grand Junction, Colo.
Against the Eastern State Mountaineers on Friday, Greg Husnander reached on a two-base throwing error as NEO grabbed a brief 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning. Angel Ortiz doubled with Husnander stopping at third base. Samuel Crabtree grounded out to short as Husnander scored.
The Mountaineers built a 2-1 lead in the top of the third inning on a solo home run by Landon Coon (1) and a RBI single by Zair Koeiman off NEO starter Michael Fusselman.
Consecutive singles by Alex Wise and Ramon Laureano started a three-run rally for the Norsemen in the bottom of the sixth inning. After Kevin Meyers walked to fill the bases, Jackson Morris reached on a fielder's choice scoring Wise. On a double steal, Wise scored as Morris advanced to third on an errant throw. Ortiz singled scoring Morris for a 4-2 Norse lead.
Six singles and a passed ball against three NEO hurlers led to a seven-run outburst by the Mountaineers in the top of the seventh inning. Key hit in the inning was a two-run single by Riley Norton off NEO's third reliever Hector Candelaria.
With one out in the bottom of the seventh, Wise walked and Laureano singled. Both runners scored on a double by Meyers. Morris singled scoring Meyers for a 9-7 deficit for NEO.
Eastern loaded the bases with one out in the top of the eighth inning, but Candelaria (1-0) induced Daniel Salters to pop out on an infield fly and Stijn Meer to ground out to second base to end the threat.
Corey Dodd doubled to start NEO's three-run eighth inning. After Kaleb Thomas was hit by a pitch, Wise walked to load the bases. Meyers singled scoring Dodd before Morris singled scoring both Thomas and Wise to complete the NEO comeback.
Ortiz and Laureano combined for three hits each to pace NEO's 12-hit attack. Morris added two hits and four runs batted in while Meyers contributed two hits and three RBI.
Sophomore right-hander Rickey Rivera threw a complete game as the No. 3 seed Northeastern A&M Golden Norsemen defeated No. 4 seed Rose State College 8-1 in Thursdays opening game.
