SUMMIT – The Copiah-Lincoln Wolves made their annual trip to thecampus of Southwest Community College Saturday and picked up twoSouth Division victories against the Bears. The Wolves won thefirst game 10-7 and the second 5-3 behind a late rally that washighlighted by a Matt Lea solo home run in the eighth.

“We hit the ball a lot better in the first game than thesecond,” said Co-Lin coach Keith Case. “We made good plays ondefense and offense that helped us win.”

The Wolves will resume play Tuesday afternoon in Ellisvilleagainst South Division rival Jones County Junior College for adoubleheader. Jones is in first place in the South Division with arecord of 9-3. First pitch is expected to be thrown around4:00.

Co-Lin 10, Southwest 7

In game one, the Wolves started their scoring spree off a wildpitch from Southwest pitcher Lucien Weber that sent Co-Linsophomore shortstop Kyle Beall home. The Wolves ended the first,leading 1-0.

After back to back scoreless innings by both teams in the secondand third, the Wolves answered the fourth with a four run bonanzathat was highlighted by bunt base hits from Lea and sophomorecenterfielder Arlandus Brown. The Wolves led 5-0 after three and ahalf, but the Bears (10-15, 4-8) had an answer waiting for them intheir half.

The answer resulted in a 4-run fourth for the Bears, that cutthe lead to one. Southwest scored its first runs off a BrentBarrois double that sent freshmen Tim Daigle and Justin Chiassonhome. The Bears added their last two runs off walks, that gave themfour runs for the game.

Instead of folding after a four run attack from the Bears,Co-Lin loaded its guns and answered with a five run explosion thatsilenced the Southwest crowd. The Wolves used a two-run triple byLea to score freshmen Paris Dancy and sophomore Travis Smith fromsecond and third for a 7-4 lead. Co-Lin added their last three runsoff singles, that made it 10-5 Co-Lin.

The Bears tried to mount a rally late in the seventh but insteadwould be quieted by Co-Lin sophomore hurler David Gray with threestraight strikeouts to gain the save.

Coach Case’s Wolves where led on the offensive by Lea at theplate with a triple, a single, and a stolen base. Collecting twosingles apiece was Brown, Dancy, Beall, and freshman Chase Coley.Beall and Coley added two stolen bases apiece.

For the Bears, Barrois led with a single and double. SophomoreBrady Sledge chipped in with two singles.

On the mound, Co-Lin freshman Mitch Mangum (3-4) posted the winwith three strikeouts and two walks.

Suffering the loss for the Bears was Weber (3-5) with fourstrikeouts and two walks.

Co-Lin 5, Southwest 3

In game two, the Bears and Wolves used the pitching talents offreshman hurlers Jonathan Honea and Kendall Poole respectively toset the tone of the game early. It went scoreless for two and halfinnings, before a Co-Lin error sent Chiasson home. The Bears endedthe third leading 1-0.

In the fourth, the Wolves ended the Southwest lead with a DavidGray single that sent Beall home for a 1-1 tie. After a briefdeadlock the Bears ended the fourth leading 2-1. The Bears regainedthe lead off a passed ball that scored freshman centerfielder AaronArteaga from third.

After a scoreless fifth, the Bears added another run in thesixth to take a 3-1 lead heading into the final frame. The Wolvesanswered the Southwest lead in the top of seventh with key singlesfrom Dancy and freshman Cole Zumbro to score the game-tying runs.Co-Lin ended the Bears half of the second on a spectacular doubleplay catch from Beall to send the game into extra inningsdeadlocked at three.

“That double play was big for us,” said Case. “It gave us somemomentum heading into the eighth, and halted them fromscoring.”

In the eighth, the Wolves used a solo home run over the leftfield fence by Lea to break the three-all tie. The Wolves neverlooked back from there, adding another run in their half and a pairof groundouts to collect the hard-fought South Division win.

“We just battled back, after being down most of the game.” addedCase. “Southwest played a real good game. And despite the outcome,they have a real good team. Honea pitched a real good game today,we just made the plays late to win the game.”

Honea, a 6-foot-5, 240-pound freshman from Gloster suffered theloss for the Bears, despite going eight full innings with eightstrikeouts and two walks.

Co-Lin sophomore Jacob Hartwig picked up the win for the Wolveswith two strikeouts and two walks. Hartwig pitched three and halfinnings, before replacing Poole who finished with three strikeoutsand three walks.

At the plate, the Wolves were led by Lea with a homer and asingle. Beall finished with a double, a single, and two stolenbases. Zumbro belted out two singles.

For the Bears, Aaron Arteaga led Southwest with threesingles.