RAYMOND — Jonathan Ettinger earned a starting job at Warren Central with perseverance, patience and hustle. It landed him a scholarship at Hinds Community College and the fires that burned at WC are still burning.

Leading 5-0 in the top of the first inning Monday against Mercyhurst Northeast, Minn., the Eagles loaded the bases on an Ettinger single. The next batter, David Mooney, hit a sharp grounder to second which skipped into the outfield. Ettinger, who was on first base, got to third and saw no one covering the plate. He sprinted home and slid head first into home for Hinds’ eighth run of the first inning. It was the type play that got Ettinger noticed by Hinds coach Sam Temple.

“If I don’t have guys like Jonathan Ettinger, I am not doing my business right,” said Temple, who led Warren Central to the 2001 Class 5A state title. “There are not many people I would hold the bus late for, but Ettinger is one of them.”

Ettinger is a key cog in a Hinds baseball team with visions of great things. Warren County players are the bedrock of those aspirations.

Former Warren Central standout Josh Gordon, a Delta State recruit, earned National Junior College Athletic Association preseason All-America honors, even though he has been slowed this season with an injured hamstring. Nicholls State recruit Eric Douglas, also from Warren Central, scored three runs in a 26-2 win over Mercyhurst on Monday, then homered in the second game, a 8-4 HCC win. WC product Nick Carson had two singles in the first game and was the winning pitcher in the second.

Vicksburg High product Tyler Wells, who signed with Ole Miss out of high school but decided to go the junior college instead, scored a pair of runs and had a single. Former VHS star Vernon Wolfe scored three runs as a pinch-runner on Monday.

“Warren County is represented really well on this team,” Temple said. “They are the cornerstone of this team and guys we really lean on. This is going to be an exciting baseball team.”

All of the Eagles’ pistons were firing on Monday as Hinds scored eight runs in the first, 11 in the second, one in the third and six in the fourth. The game was called after Mercyhurst went quietly in the top of the fifth.

LSU-Eunice transfer Aryo Fleming pitched four innings, struck out six and allowed four hits.

Hinds had 16 hits.

The game was a needed boost to Hinds (3-5), a team that has lost four of its five decisions by one run.

“I haven’t changed anything, I like for our guys to swing the bat,” Temple said. “We have some big strong hitters and I like for our guys to swing the bats. It’s early and we are trying to find some combinations that work.”