By BY BRUCE HIXON – SPORTS EDITOR
One cannot blame the Jefferson Davis Community College Warhawks baseball team for wanting to be greedy.
Instead of a three-game sweep, JDCC had to settle for winning two out of three in its home weekend series against the Enterprise-Ozark Boll Weevil after the teams divided Saturday's doubleheader.
The Warhawks (7-5 in the Alabama Community College Conference and 14-13 overall) posted their fourth straight victory in game one with a 5-2 victory before Enterprise rallied for a 10-6 win in game two to salvage the finale.
The Warhawks rode a stellar pitching performance by sophomore righthander Michael Maraldo to the game one win. Maraldo went the distance on a four-hitter, as he struck out seven and walked only two.
Maraldo needed to be at his best because he did not have much cushion to work with most of the game.
JDCC was able to give him a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning when Ben Green singled, Ryan Gray doubled and Jeremy White delivered an RBI single.
The Warhawks stretched their lead to 2-0 in the third. David Washington singled and went to third on a pair of passed balls. Andrew Sawyer followed with a walk and Steven Bingert grounded out, but that was enough to plate Washington.
Enterprise (7-8 in the ACCC and 9-16 overall) shaved its deficit in half in the sixth when Kyle Olasin singled, went to third on two wild pitches and scored on an RBI double by Brooks Glover.
JDCC responded with two huge runs in the bottom of the sixth to make it 4-1. Kyle Snedeker singled, went to second on a wild pitch and scored on a single by Andrew Sawyer. Sawyer stole second, went to third on a fielder's choice and scored when Green reached on an error.
After the Warhawks picked up another run in the bottom of the eighth to make it 5-1, Maraldo worked around a leadoff walk that eventually led to a run to close the door.
Washington, Snedeker and Daniel Hodge all had two hits to lead the Warhawks at the plate.
Enterprise came back from two deficits in game two to get the split.
JDCC took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Singles by Sawyer and Green turned into runs on an RBI groundout by Gray and an RBI single by White.
That lead held until the top of the fifth when Enterprise strung together five straight singles off JDCC starter Harrison Szuch. Those hits preceded two key errors by the Warhawks' defense and opened the door for a five-run rally that put the Boll Weevil up 5-2.
A four-run rally in the bottom of the fifth put JDCC back on top. Jake Bonds walked and Washington reached on an error. Bingert stroked an RBI single and a two-run double tied the game at 5-5. Gray kept the rally alive with a single and that set up a sacrifice fly by Matthew Stokes that put the Warhawks up 6-5.
Enterprise did not allow for that lead to stand up for long. Three JDCC relievers, Hunter Brown, Robby Carlson and Myles Taylor, were nicked for two singles, a walk, a game-tying RBI single Nick Love and a go-ahead sacrifice fly by Brooks Glover that made it 7-6.
Love helped ensure the Boll Weevil's victory when he belted a three-run homer in the top of the seventh that extended Enterprise's lead to 10-6.
Sawyer and Green both had two hits to pace JDCC.
The Warhawks start an ACCC series at Wallace State-Dothan Friday with a nine-inning game that begins at 1 p.m.
Game one
Enterprise 000 001 001 - 2 4 2
JDCC 101 002 01X - 5 10 2
Game two
Enterprise 000 052 3 - 10 13 1
JDCC 200 040 0 – 6 8 0