circle the wagons

The resilience of the East Central Community College Warriors will be tested today in Enid, Okla. In its opener Monday at the NJCAA Division II World Series, ECCC squandered a 10-1 lead and lost to Madison (Wisc.) College 12-10. The third-seeded Warriors (51-8) play an elimination game today against Southeastern Iowa. Powered by home runs from Mo Little, Barret Rodgers and Cyrus Rone, ECCC led 10-1 after five innings with ace Luke Cooley on the bump. Cooley departed in the sixth after throwing 110 pitches (just 61 strikes), and six relievers were unable to close the door on Madison. The WolfPack (39-12) scored six times in the sixth, once in the seventh and four more in the ninth to steal the game. ECCC did not manage a hit over the last four innings. If there is a silver lining for the Warriors, they do have Marbin Lezcano (8-1, 3.17 ERA) available for today’s game. … Meanwhile, in San Diego, one of East Central’s most famous alums also had a rough day. Tim Anderson — who led the Warriors to a state title back in 2013 — committed two errors at shortstop in a pivotal seventh inning that cost Miami in a 2-1 loss to the Padres. Anderson also went 0-for-2 at the plate, dropping his average to .203. “I can’t be worse than that,” Anderson told mlb.com after the game. “So I can only get better, so that’s a positive.” The Marlins signed Anderson — .279 career hitter, 98 homers, 120 steals — to a one-year, $5 million deal in the off-season, hoping he could reverse a troubling trajectory. It hasn’t happened. A batting champion with the Chicago White Sox in 2019 and an All-Star in 2022, he slumped to .245 with just one homer last year. The White Sox declined an option in his contract and cut him loose. In 40 games for Miami, the 30-year-old Alabama native has yet to homer and has just three extra-base hits. Never a great fielder, he has six errors and .959 fielding percentage this season, both poor numbers.