VICKSBURG-The Lawrence County Cougars won one of two games in high school baseball action at Warren Central High School on Saturday. In their first game, the Cougars banged 5 homeruns in a 15-5 route of Natchez Cathedral. The tide turned on the Cougars in game two, however. Vicksburg’s Mike Rohrer threw a no-hitter, as the Gators hammered Lawrence County 10-0. Both games were halted after 5 innings via the 10-run rule.

The split left Lawrence County at 10-6 overall, entering this week’s Division 7-4A series with Purvis. The loss to Vicksburg snapped the Cougars’ modest 5-game winning streak.

“We had a good week,” said Lawrence County head coach Cory Keyes. “Unfortunately, we ended it on a bad note. We swung the bats really well against Cathedral, then nothing went right against Vicksburg.”

LCHS junior Kody Smith had a huge game against Cathedral, which entered the day with a record of 9-1. Smith went the distance and was the winning pitcher, scattering 6 hits and striking out 5 in the 5-inning game. It was at the plate where Smith really made noise, slamming 2 homeruns.

“Kody had a great game,” said long-time LCHS assistant Craig Davis. “The wind was really blowing out and the ball was really flying, but Kody’s homeruns would have gone out anyway. The second one left the field by a hundred feet or more. It was probably the longest ball we’ve hit since we went back to the dead bats a couple of years ago.”

Kewaun May, Will Jackson and T-Tez Cole also homered for the Cougars, who hit back-to-back homeruns twice in the game. May’s blast was a bases-loaded grand slam. Joshua Stephens, Gabriel Lewis and Logan Greenlee also had hits for Lawrence County.

Nothing went right for Lawrence County in the second game, largely thanks to Vicksburg right-hander Mike Rohrer. Rohrer allowed only 2 base runners, both on walks, and 1 of those was erased on a ground-ball double play. Rohrer struck out just 3, but most of the contact the Cougars made was soft contact.

“We laid an egg, no question about it,” said assistant coach Davis, “but let’s give a lot of credit to their kid. He had a lot to do with our hitting struggles. We had an awful first inning and were just never in the game at all.”

Vicksburg roughed up LCHS starter Will Jackson for 6 first-inning runs. Three walks and 2 Cougar errors aided the Gators’ big inning. Jackson was relieved by freshman Kasey Durr, who pitched the rest of the way.

Third baseman Jekori Reed had a big game for the Gators. He went 3-for-3, with a homerun, a double and 2 RBIs.

Saturday’s games were slated to be at Vicksburg’s Bazinsky Field, but overnight rains forced the games to be moved to Warren Central.