Photo: Scott Kirn
East Central College (37-19) wins the 2024 NJCAA Region 16 DII Baseball Championship 6-5 over North Central Missouri College in 11 innings. Jackson Kirn drove in Jose Alfonso after his leadoff double in the bottom of the 11th inning for a walk-off winner!
The Falcons were trailing 2-0 heading into the bottom of the second inning as Hayden ‘Cookie’ Cook had a monster hit as he drove in three runs on a double to right center. The Falcons were in business and took the lead as Cory Chostner tripled and Kirn was struck by a pitch , each scoring a run and elevating the score to 5-3.
Joey Reichmuth came into the game in the 1st inning to get the team out of a jam and struck out the third batter. Reichmuth went 5 1/3 innings with six strikeouts and only walking one batter. Drew Davis came into the game in relief and pitched well, but gave up a solo home run which tied the game at 5-5. Davis made an incredible double play in the bottom of the eighth inning to preserve the 5-5 tie. Adam DeBoer entered the game in relief tied in the ninth and pitched three innings to eventually earn the win.
Kirn and Alfonso both had two hits and the Falcons earned the victory by playing all around good defense to win the 2024 Region 16 DII Championship.
Coach JM Kelly received a well deserved honor as he was named Region 16 Coach of the Year after the victory. It was big win for the Falcons as this will put the team in the district playoffs facing the top three teams from Region 24 next week.
Sophomore Joey Reichmuth
Sophomore Jackson Kirn
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