WESSON — Opening Day for the Copiah-Lincoln Wolves had its fareshare of ups and downs as the Wolves split a doubleheader with theBossier Parish Community College Cavaliers. The Wolves won theopener 7-5 but lost the nightcap 11-1 in a cold damp rain on muddySullivan Field.

Co-Lin 7, Bossier 5

The Wolves (1-1), jumped out to a dazzling 4-0 lead in the firsttwo innings, off RBI singles from freshmen Jody Britt and PatrickWilliams. In the third the Cavaliers evened things up off a trio ofCo-Lin mistakes. Two errors and a wild pitch, put Co-Lin andBossier in a 4-4 deadlock.

“When they came back on us, we realized we had to answer them,”said Co-Lin catcher Diego Nucete, a sophomore from Caracas,Venezuela. “We had to battle back.”

After Bossier (5-1), took the lead at 5-4 off a Jeremy Thomasfielder’s choice that scored Timmy Santiago in the fifth, theWolves answered with a Casey Ginn single, that sent sophomoreshortstop Aaron Guillot home to tie things up.

In the sixth, Co-Lin took advantage of a Bossier wild pitch toscore Britt from third to take the lead back 6-5. Two batterslater, Brookhaven product Justin Sykes, a freshmen third baseman,was sent home off a Nucete single.

“We showed a lot of character coming back like we did,” saidCo-Lin head coach Keith Case. “We played hard and with emotion.Offensively, we had two good innings in the first and sixth.”

Case’s Wolves were led by Britt at the plate, with two doublesand an RBI. Ginn, a sophomore rightfielder from Tylertown, finishedwith a single and two RBI. He also made a spectacular catch in thesixth inning that left two Bossier runners stranded on base.

On the mound, freshman pitcher Ryan Belanger (1-0) collected thevictory. Belanger the younger brother of former Co-Lin standoutBrandon Belanger, issued two strikeouts and no earned runs in twoand a half innings.

Sophomore Cass Brister started the game and pitched four and ahalf innings, allowing six hits and five runs on three strikeoutsand two walks.

Bossier sophomore Adam Lovelace a Summerville, S.C. native,suffered the loss. Lovelace allowed three runs, on one strikeoutand three walks.

Bossier 11, Co-Lin 1

Game Two featured the return of Co-Lin fastball ace Cole Zumbroto pitching mound. Zumbro, an Eddiceton native, was red-shirtedlast season after tearing the UCL tendon in his right arm. Nearly ayear after having Tommy John Surgery, Zumbro pitched two innings,allowing no runs on one hit, with two strikeouts and one walk.

Feeling the momentum of Zumbro’s return, the Wolves rushed outto a 1-0 lead off a Bossier fielding error that scored Ginn fromthird. In the second, a cold, soaking rain began to fall, astemperatures plunged into the lower 40s at Sullivan field. Despitethe conditions, Zumbro kept the Cavaliers in check with near90-mile-per-hour heat that dazed Bossier batters.

“Cole pitched a very good two innings,” added Case. “Hislocation and velocity was impressive.”

After Zumbro’s two innings, Roxie native Colby Beach took to themound in the third. Beach, a freshman, went an inning beforeBossier adjusted. The Cavaliers plated three runs in the fourth andfifth, to take a 6-0 lead going into the

sixth.

Beach went two and two-thirds of an inning, before Boycee Varnesreplaced him. Jacob Leggett pitched the seventh.

Bossier, coached by Elliott Samplely and assisted by Chad Yates,continued their run-a-thon as temperatures continued to drop. TheCavs added two runs in the sixth, and three in the seventh for thefinal 11-1 advantage.

“The second game, our offense didn’t adjust,” continued Case.”We had two hits, and anytime you limit yourself to that, you’regoing to lose.”

Freshmen centerfielder Keeyon Sanders and Nucete had the Wolves’only two hits in the contest. Sanders issued a single, while Nucetebanged out a double.

On the mound, Beach (0-1) absorbed the loss. In two andtwo-thirds of work, Beach allowed six runs, five hits, two walks,and one balk, on three strikeouts.

Bossier left-hander Jason Duhon (2-0) gained the victory withthree strikeouts and two walks.

At the plate, the Cavaliers were led by first baseman WillNeeles with a double, and a single. Drew Hampton and Jeremy Thomasadded two singles, while Richard Heard added a home run, and twoRBI.

Co-Lin resumes play Wednesday, hosting LSU-Eunice at 2 p.m. fora doubleheader.