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ENID, Okla. – With a stellar pitching performance by Ben Stiglets in addition to timely hitting, Jones County (Miss.) defeated GateWay (Ariz.), 7-1, to win the NJCAA Division II Baseball Championship on Saturday evening at David Allen Memorial Ballpark.
The Bobcats were led offensively by Tanner Huddleston and Mason Irby who each finished with two RBIs and a home run apiece. Huddleston batted 3-for-4 and scored twice, while Irby went 2-for-5. Also contributing was Shelton Wallace who was 1-for-3 at the plate with a run scored and a walk.
In total, the Jones County hitters pushed across seven runs on 15 hits, but left 11 runners stranded.
On the mound, Stiglets was dominant as he was credited with a complete game victory. In his outing, the right-hander tallied eight strikeouts, a walk and scattered eight hits while surrendering just one run. Stiglets worked efficiently as he tossed 73 strikes from 100 total pitches.
Thanks to an RBI double by Erick Hoard, Jones County was able to get on the board first as Sasser scored from second. Irby then pushed Huddleston across with a single to left field to make it 2-0 after the first inning.
The score remained unchanged until solo homers from Huddleston, Irby and Wallace added to the Bobcats’ advantage during the fifth and sixth innings. In the seventh, Hoard was able to make it 6-0 following a wild pitch. Sasser scored the final run for the Bobcats as a result of an RBI triple from Huddleston in the eighth.
The Geckos erased the Jones County shutout in the top half of the eighth with an RBI from Nathan Chokey.
GateWay hurler Garrett Poole was credited with the loss as he conceded five runs off 10 hits in five innings of work. Seth Nordin and Brock Whittlesey each made relief appearances of 1.2 and 1.1 innings respectively.
Offensively, the lone run for the Geckos was scored by Brady Hettinger.
Information from NJCAA (National Junior College Athletic Association)
