MONTICELLO-West Marion, North Pike, and host Lawrence County were winners in a full day of action Saturday at the LC Cougar Baseball Classic. West Marion started the day with a 5-3 win over Brookhaven. The Trojans then followed that up with an 8-6 victory over the Bogue Chitto Bobcats.

North Pike won the third game of the day, a 3-hour slugfest that featured 31 runs and 37 base hits. The Jaguars beat Wesson, 18-13. In the final game of the evening, host Lawrence County pushed across 2 runs in the bottom of the sixth to edge Wesson 4-3.

“We had two great days of baseball,” said first-year Lawrence County coach Josh Garrett, whose Cougars improved to 2-0. “We were honored to have some great kids here, representing great schools. It was a very good start to the baseball season.”

The “Classic” was sort of a prelude to next week’s Southwest Mississippi Spring Break Baseball Classic, which Lawrence County will host for the fifth straight year. Fourteen teams will descend on Jimmie Davis Park for 20 games this year.

Here’s a brief re-cap of Saturday’s games:

 WEST MARION 5, BROOKHAVEN 3

In the 10 a.m. game, West Marion pushed across 4 runs in the top of the fifth to edge Randy Spring’s Panthers. Shelby Terrell earned the win in relief for the Trojans.

Scottie Bateman worked 6 gutsy innings for Ole Brook. Penn Wilson had 2 hits for the Panthers. Brandon Henyard, Tate Walley, Judson Henning, and Bateman each had 1 hit.

WEST MARION 8, BOGUE CHITTO 6 

For the second straight day, the 1A Bobcats gave it a good fight against a bigger school, but fell just short. West Marion got 5 strong innings from right-hander Chandler McNabb, who stuck out 6.

Steven Ginn worked 4-plus innings for Bogue Chitto. Bo Smithers pitched the fifth and sixth. Ginn also had a good day at the plate, going 3-for-3 with a double and a triple. Nick Parker, Brooks Engle, Tucker Smith, and Smithers all hit safely.

Tony Davis’ Bobcats staged a spirited comeback late in the game, getting the potential tying run on base in the final inning.

NORTH PIKE 18, WESSON 13 

The hitters dominated the third game of the day. North Pike exploded early, and led 12-2 entering the bottom of the third. After that, Wesson bats rallied, making for an exciting-and long-game.

Ben Coney led the Jags with 4 hits. Levi Wishart, Dallas Smith, and Blake Dunaway each had 3 hits. Jacob Gill added 2. Cade Killingsworth whacked a 2-run homer. Dunaway drove in 3 runs.

George Lott’s Jaguars employed five pitchers in the game. Cade Killingsworth started and got the win.

Mac McQuage, Tyler McLeod, and Jeremy Smith each had 3 hits for the Cobras. Mack Smith and Jimmie McQuage each had 2, with Smith hitting a homerun. Justin Boone hit 2 homeruns. Preston Adams and Peyton Burns shared pitching duty.

LAWRENCE COUNTY 4, WESSON 3 

While the hitters dominated game three, it was pitching and defense that carried the day in game four. Lawrence County and Wesson battled to a 2-2 deadlock through 5 innings. In the bottom of the sixth, Cougar catcher Logan Greenlee hit a solo homer. Later in the inning, designated hitter Noah McLaurin added and RBI.

As it turned out, the Cougars needed both runs. In the seventh, Wesson’s Mack Smith hit a mammoth homer, but that’s as close as the Cobras could get.

Kasey Durr pitched 7 strong innings to get the win. He struck out 9. Greenlee, McLaurin, Rishad Haynes, Brandon Bullock, Marcus Atterberry, and Josh Stephens got hits for the Cougars.

Wesson’s Mack Smith matched Durr with an equally solid outing. He struck out 8 in 6 innings. Smith, Preston Middleton, Tyler McLeod and Mac McQuage each had 2 hits for the Cobras. Jimmie McQuage, Max Daughdrill, and Bolon Tadlock also had hits.