Warriors stand toe-to-toe with Wynne but fall 5-2 in Xtra Innings

One of four pitchers who tried to stop Neelyville with no success, Colby Tacker, in a game earlier this season, warms up while T.J. Laster looks on from Third base. (Tribune photo/Dan Brawner)

Like many of the other teams involved, EPC's Warriors were able to get in only one game during the Xtra Innings Classic last week due to the inclement weather. That game came Thursday morning against the 5A Wynne Yellowjackets, resulting in an uncharacteristic 5-2 loss for the Warriors.

"We just ran into a good team in Wynne," said coach Brian Weathers. "I was real pleased with the way the game was going until the bottom of the sixth. We managed to keep it at 2-2 up till that point."

It was in the bottom of the sixth that the Yellowjackets managed to hit a couple of bloopers which resulted in three runs crossing the plate. With the Warriors already struggling to match the higher classified team, the 5-2 was just too much for EPC to recover from.

"They just began to kind of take over (in the bottom of the sixth)," said Weathers. "But it wasn't all them, we had our chances. We just weren't able to get the key hit when we needed it. Out top four hitters were able to get only two hits between them."

The lack of output for the top of his order obviously frustrated Weathers, but he admitted that he was pleased with how the middle and bottom of his line responded.

"The middle of our order did a really good job taking up the slack," he continued. "Chris Carter is hitting the ball as well as anyone around right now. He was 2 for 2 on the day and that raised his batting average to .469 on the season."

Claeb Skipper also went 2 for 2 while D.J. Brister finished 1 for 2.

"We finally got some production from out eight and nine hole hitters," Weathers said. "Austin Price got an RBI ground out and Tyler Perminter had an RBI on a squeeze bunt."

From the top of the order, Matt Powell finished 1 for 3 with a walk and a stolen base while Chris Maddox was 1 for 4.

While not able to perform as he usually does at the plate, defensively, Maddox pitched a solid game gaving up five hits and two walks while striking out eight on the day.

"We made three errors behind him so that had a lot to do with the loss." Wright added. "We need to work on that, but he pitched a phenomenal game as he has all year."

The two other games the Warriors were scheduled to play during the weekend, against Brookland and Neelyville, Mo., were called due to the weather.

"We continued to put the bat on the ball and only had three strikeouts against a quality team," concluded Weathers. "Offensively, I'm proud of what we did. I don't know if there is such a thing as good loss or not, but I was glad we could go toe-to-toe with a team like Wynne."