By By BRUCE HIXON – Sports Editor
Opportunity did not knock a lot of times, but the Jefferson Davis Community College Warhawks baseball team answered most of them in a 7-4, 7-5 doubleheader sweep of visiting Henry Ford (Mich.) Tuesday.
The sweep gave the Warhawks (9-8) their sixth win in eight games and lifted them above the .500 mark for the first time since they were 3-2 after beating Marion Military Institute on Valentine's Day.
The Warhawks won the first game despite the fact they were outhit 8-4 by Henry Ford, which was playing just its third and fourth games of the season.
Henry Ford touched Warhawks starting hurler Adam Reed for four hits, one of which was a two-run double, in the top of the first inning.
JDCC bounced back with an unusual bottom of the second inning when it scored six runs despite the fact it was limited to just two hits.
The Warhawks took advantage of three walks, three hit batters and two Henry Ford errors. The key offensive blow for JDCC was Jordan Currid's two-run double.
Henry Ford trimmed the deficit to 6-3 with a run in the top of the third inning, which proved to be Adam Reed's final inning on the mound. Reliever Kyle Reed helped shut the door with three innings of scoreless work before Henry Ford touched him for its final run in the top of the seventh.
Prior to that tally, JDCC had stretched its advantage to 7-3 in the bottom of the sixth when Jesse Edwards walked, stole second and scored on Jamar Bryant's RBI double.
Game two followed a somewhat similar pattern in that Henry Ford again struck first with a run in the top of the first inning, but the Warhawks took a permanent lead with a four-run rally in the bottom half of the inning.
Ryan Gray had a key RBI single and Tyler Rollan drove in another run with a groundout, but the key blow of the inning and probably the game was Brandon Sapp's two-run triple.
David Washington circled the bases in the bottom of the second inning when he tripled and scored on a throwing error to make it 5-1.
Both teams traded runs in the third, the last for JDCC starting hurler Jonathan Milling. Milling departed with a 6-2 lead after Stephen Bingert drilled an RBI single in the bottom half of the inning.
Bingert also had another RBI single in the bottom of the fifth inning that gave the Warhawks a 7-2 lead.
JDCC reliever Bubba Mack threw scoreless frames in three of the four inning he worked although Henry Ford got to him for four hits, a walk and three runs in the top of the sixth that trimmed JDCC's lead to 7-5.
The Warhawks are back in action today when they host Bevill State-Fayette today for a 12 noon nine-inning game.
Game one
Henry Ford 201 000 1 – 4 8 2
JDCC 060 001 X – 7 4 0
Game two
Henry Ford 101 003 0 – 5 7 2
JDCC 411 010 X – 7 8 2