By SAM STAFF/Sports Writer

LAUREL — East Central finished off a sweep of Laurel Friday and the two-time defending Class 5A state champions remained in the chase for a state playoff spot in the process.
The Hornets thumped the home-standing Golden Tornadoes 23-0 in just three frames. Coming on the heels of a 15-0 win on Tuesday also in Laurel and a 14-0 home win on Thursday, East Central evened its overall record back up at 11-11 and moved to 5-7 in the region race. Currently, the Hornets sit in the fifth spot in the league standings just behind Gautier and Wayne County as the Gators are 5-5 and the War Eagles 5-6 going into Saturday afternoon’s third and final region game in Gautier.

East Central faces WCHS in a key three game region series next week that will decided at least one and perhaps two playoff seeds in the region race.
Matthew Combs, Jaxson Cripps, Gaines Huff, Anthony Tanner and Fisher Strickler each had two hits apiece for the Hornets on Friday as they banged out 16 hits. Cripps had a home run and a double and drove in a co game-high four runs in the winning attack, and Strickler also drove in four runs and had a double as well. Huff had two RBIs, while Combs, Tanner, Grant Vick and Payton McLean each added a double also.
Peyton Youngblood got the pitching win.
The Hornets batted a total of 10 innings over the three game span against Laurel and scored 52 runs on 41 hits.

On Thursday night in Hurley, Tanner, McLean and Mason Prouty had two hits apiece in the 14-0 win while Strickler drove in a game-high three runs and Tanner, Prouty, Cripps and McLean all drove in two RBIS apiece. Tanner had a home run and a double in the winning effort, while Strickler and Cripps had triples and McLean and Brody Platt had a double each.
Strickler picked up the pitching win.

East Central has qualified for the state playoffs for the past 12 seasons, one of the longest such streaks in the state of Mississippi. The Hornets have missed the state baseball playoffs just twice in the past three decades.

East Central has captured the past two Class 5A state championships. The situation this season is reminiscent of the 2010 season, when after winning the Class 4A state title in 2008 and playing for it again in 2009 the Hornets returned a much less experienced squad and struggled through a rare losing season at 12-16.
The Hornets went just 4-4 in league play that season and missed the state playoffs. It marked the first time in 15 years, since 1995, that ECHS failed to qualify for the postseason.

This season, veteran Hornet head coach Bo Long returned just a couple of full-time starters after losing nine key starters and top reserves to graduation after they won back-to-back state titles. But, East Central can qualify yet again for the state playoffs with a couple of wins over Wayne County next week