East Central College took a pair of victories over North Central Missouri College on Saturday, winning the NJCAA Division Two, Region 16 baseball championship. The Pirates ended the season with a mark of 19-33, falling by scores of 11-1 and 5-3 at Burleigh Grimes Field in Trenton.
Edward Viloria had a pair of hits in the 11-1 loss for NCMC. Tanner Schmidt was saddled with the loss, allowing six runs over three innings of work.
With season survival at sake, the second game was much more competitive, with the host Pirates taking a 1-0 lead in the first inning, on a bases-loaded walk to Noel Medina.
ECC scraped across single tallies in the 3rd and 4th innings off of losing pitcher Layne Rutherford to grab momentum and the lead. Rutherford took the loss and fell to 2-6, while relief pitcher Avery Rivero was touched up for a solo home run in the East Central 7th.
In postgame ceremonies, All-Region selections were presented. Earning 1st Team honors were sophomores Avery Rivero and Noah Bodenhausen. 2nd Team status was awarded to sophomore Arturo Brito and freshmen Layne Rutherford and Jesus Fonseca.
