BROOKHAVEN — It was a long six weeks but Jake Meilstrup returned in time to help the Brookhaven baseball team to a 13-7 win over Natchez. Meilstrup had seven stolen bases and two base hits in the win. 

He was injured six weeks ago in a collision in center field. After the collision, he threw up but they thought it was a normal response to the collision. His stomach was still bloated after church the next day and that is when his mom, who is a nurse, looked at it. Meilstrup had to be taken to Jackson with a ruptured spleen. 

Two weeks ago, he felt good but had to wait to be released to play. It did not really bother him in the game although sliding caused some discomfort, something he had to do at least seven times for seven stolen bases. 

“It just felt good to be with everybody. It is what I wanted,” Meilstrup said. “They missed me for sure. I had a lot of stolen bases tonight and I didn’t hit too bad either, which was good.”

Natchez issued eight walks in the game and gave up 12 hits and three errors. Of Brookhaven’s 13 runs, 11 of those runs were earned. Panthers timely hitting is what really cost the Bulldogs in the game. 

Ole Brook’s pitching only gave up six hits and three errors in the game too. The pitching staff’s work kept Natchez to just seven runs despite seven walks. 

Ben Adams had the biggest moment of the night behind Meilstrup’s triumphant return from injury. Brookhaven had the bases loaded in the third inning when Adams stepped up to the plate and blasted a ball out to center field for a grand slam. The five run inning broke open the game and Adams finished the night with two hits and six RBIs. 

“I loved watching it go by. I knew it was out when he hit it,” Meilstrup said. “I started walking because I knew it was out.” 

Brookhaven played Terry on Saturday and won 18-8 following three hits by Meilstrup and JP Wallace driving in five RBIs. Ole Brook will play Florence Tuesday night in an important district matchup which could move the Panthers up in the standings. 

Meilstrup’s senior season is coming to an end and the six week break made it go quicker than he wanted. Since ninth grade, he has played baseball for the Panthers. His team will lose a lot of seniors at the end of the year but he believes the younger players will be alright. 

While he would like to play college baseball, he said the six weeks he missed might have cost him an opportunity to be seen by college teams. Meilstrup does play to study insurance. 

“I’m not ready to leave but it is coming,” he said. “I wanted to get looked at by colleges but I missed six weeks. Maybe I can walk on somewhere. It is my goal to play college baseball. I will probably study insurance because it is the only thing that interests me. It seems like my type of thing. Once I study it, I’ll know more.” 

Brookhaven (15-5) and Florence (9-9) play at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Brookhaven.