MONTICELLO — The Vicksburg Gators defeated the Lawrence CountyCougars 8-0 in high school baseball action Saturday afternoon atJimmie Davis Park.

The Class 5A Gators scored 6 runs in their final 2 at-bats.Pitchers Andrew Brown and Stanton Price combined on a 2-hitter,powering Vicksburg to victory.

With the win, Coach Jamie Creel’s Gators improved to 5-3 on theyoung season, while Lawrence County, coached by Cory Keyes, fell to6-3.

“We didn’t play an awful game,” Keyes said. “We hit a lot ofdecent balls. Vicksburg just did a great job of fielding them. Ithought Corey (Jones) gave us a good effort on the mound. He had uswithin two runs in the sixth inning. That’s all we could askfor.”

While Jones was giving it a good fight for Lawrence County,Brown, Stanton, and their defense were doing even better forVicksburg. In 5 and 2/3 innings, Brown gave up just 2 hits, both toCougar shortstop Trent Hartzog, and struck out 3. He was backed upby outstanding defensive play, particularly by third baseman BonanWoodson.

When Brown got into a bit of a jam, Vicksburg called on aceleft-hander Stanton Price to get him out of it. Brown struck out 3in 1 and 1/3 innings.

Vicksburg scored 2 in the top of the third, without the benefitof a base hit. Two walks, a sacrifice bunt, an RBI groundout, andan infield error combined for a 2-0 Gator lead.

It remained 2-0 into the sixth. Slugging right-fielder TylerWells led off that inning with a double, and scored on Price’s RBIsingle. Price later scored on Brown’s sacrifice fly, making it4-0.

Vicksburg broke the game open in the top of the seventh, withWells’ 2-run homer being the final big blow.

In defeat, Jones kept Lawrence County in the game and gave theCougars a chance. In 5 and 1/3 innings, he allowed 4 hits, walkedor hit 4 batters, and struck out 3. Ford Johnson and Nathan Casefinished the game for Lawrence County.