First baseman Kyle James slugged 2-run homer and pitcher PatrickHolcomb tossed a 5-hitter, leading the Loyd Star Hornets to a 7-3Thursday night victory over the Newton Tigers in the opening roundof the Class 2A Loyd Star Regional. The victory set up a noonshowdown today with archrival Wesson as the double-eliminationbaseball tournament continued.

Newton and Lake, a 3-2 loser to Wesson, play today at 3 p.m. Theloser of the Loyd Star-Wesson game will face the winner of the 3p.m. contest at 6 p.m. today.

Saturday’s championship game is set for 4 p.m.

Holcomb (5-4), a 5-foot-8, 135-pound junior right-hander,overcame some early control problems and carried a no-hitter intothe fifth inning. He walked leadoff batter Kevin Harris to startthe game. Harris later broke up the no-hitter with a fifth-inningdouble to the center field fence.

“I had to battle the whole game because I didn’t have muchworking for me,” said Holcomb who finished with 5 strikeouts, 2bases and balls and 1 hit batsman. “My slider was working prettywell and I had good defense behind me.”

Holcomb gave up 2 runs on 3 hits in the sixth and a seventhinning solo homer to Joseph Norman.

James, a junior southpaw, launched his towering home run overthe right field fence in the first inning as the Hornets (16-7)took a 2-0 lead.

“It was a first-pitch fastball, right down the middle,” answeredJames when asked about the home run. It was his fifth homer of theseason.

“Their pitcher (Jeffrey Logan) threw the ball pretty well,” saidJames. Logan gave up a 7 hits, struck out 7 and walked 3. Histeammates committed 4 errors.

Newton (7-20, 2-6), coached by Luke Gibbon, was the No. 4 teamout of Division 5-2A. The Tigers spotted Loyd Star a 7-0 leadbefore coming to life.

“Patrick didn’t have his best stuff but he pitched well enoughto get the win,” said Loyd Star coach Jonathan Breakfield. “He’s abulldog, a battler.”

Breakfield endured a frightful moment when his third baseman,Austin Fagan was knocked unconscious in the sixth inning. A hardground ball off the bat of Newton’s Andre Long, ricocheted off thethird base bag and hit Fagan on the left temple as 2 Tigersscored.

Fagan lay motionless for a few moments before regainingconsciousness. He sat out the remainder of the game, holding an icebag on the left side of his head.

“I’m feeling OK,” said Fagan after the game. “The ball justpopped up and hit me on the side of the head.”

In the second inning, Loyd Star went up 5-0. Brent Fielderreached on an error and came around to score the third run onanother fielding error. Holcomb smashed a ground-rule, RBI doubleto the left field fence for a 4-0 lead and Tyler Williford poked anRBI single, making it 5-0.

In the third, shortstop Jarred Rogers hit an RBI single to scoreMichael Britt for a 6-0 advantage. Scott Farmer’s bases-loaded,fielder’s choice allowed Rogers to score the seventh run.