Hornets, Jackets, Cobras, Bobcats all move on in baseball postseason
Published 2:00 pm Wednesday, April 24, 2024
- PHOTO BY KEVAN LINDSEY/JASPER COUNTY NEWS The Loyd Star Hornets will play the Pisgah Dragons in the second round of the MHSAA 2A playoffs beginning on Friday. Loyd Star cruised past Bay Springs in the opening round after winning Region 7-2A over Bogue Chitto, West Lincoln and Amite County.
Most of the area schools that began the MHSAA playoffs on Friday were able to finish up their first round series between then and Monday. Bogue Chitto (16-12) still had one game left to play at press time as their third and deciding game against Scott Central was to be played on Tuesday after each team won on the road to open the series.
Bogue Chitto managed to win game three last night to advance to the second round of the playoffs.
Additionally, 5A Brookhaven High (15-9-1) will make its postseason debut this week as the MHSAA 5A-7A classes did not play last week due to their playoffs being one week shorter than the lower classifications. BHS and coach Matt White will play at Stone County on Saturday at 6 p.m. and then host the Tomcats on Saturday at 1 p.m. If a third game is needed, it will be played at Stone County on Monday.
Here’s a roundup of the teams that did finish their first round series over the weekend.
Loyd Star 16, Bay Springs 1
Loyd Star 28, Bay Springs 3
The Loyd Star Hornets moved to 22-6 with a pair of blowout wins against Bay Springs High.
Senior Brandon Burt had the biggest night at the plate for Loyd Star in the opening win on Friday at home. Burt had three hits, drove in four runs and blasted a double and a triple. Senior Conner Cunningham also had a double and a pair of RBIs for the Hornets and senior Jaden Lea drove in a pair of runs as well on Friday.
Coach Jared Britt saw his Hornets score 28 runs on 10 hits in the second game Saturday in Jasper County as Bay Springs walked 14 batters and hit six more. Lea, Caleb Smith and Colby Terrell each drove in three RBIs for LS. Smith smacked a triple, Eli Thornton had a double, and senior Chace Varnado hit a home run.
Freshman Phillip Ross Spencer and sophomore Jake Smith split time on the mound for Loyd Star in game two. Spencer struck out five in two innings and Smith fanned three in his one inning of action.
Sophomore Riley Case pitched the win in game one, striking out seven in three innings while giving up one hit.
Pisgah (22-7) finished second in Region 6-2A behind St. Andrew’s Episcopal (24-5). Loyd Star beat St. Andrew’s 12-9 way back on Feb. 22.
The Dragons from Rankin County had an equally easy first round series as Loyd Star, as Pisgah pummeled North Forrest, 15-0 and 17-2.
The series begins at Loyd Star on Friday at 6 p.m. Game two will be played at Pisgah on Saturday with a 7 p.m. first pitch. If game three is necessary, it will be played at Loyd Star on Monday night.
Enterprise 3, French Camp Aca. 2
Enterprise 4, French Camp Aca. 1
For a second straight year, coach Austin Hood and the Enterprise Yellow Jackets have won a dog fight of a playoff series against the French Camp Academy Panthers.
Enterprise (17-11) took game one of the series at home on Friday by a 3-2 final score. The teams then met at French Camp in Choctaw County in another tight game on Monday, won by EAC in a 4-1 fashion.
Last season the schools went to three games in the first round as FCA won the opener 4-2, before Enterprise stormed back to win game two 2-1 and clinch the series with an 8-4 victory in game three.
On Friday, French Camp went up 2-0 after the top of the first inning before Enterprise came back by scoring one run in the third, one run in the fifth and one run in the sixth inning.
The third inning started with Nick Harris hitting a single for the Jackets. Harris reached third later in the inning via a French Camp error and then scored when Enterprise designated hitter Prewitt “Big Rig” Falvey blasted a single through the infield.
Tre Vining reached via a dropped third strike for Enterprise to start the fifth inning and then scored later in the inning to tie the game at 2-2 thanks to another French Camp error.
With two outs in the sixth, senior Gavin Regouffre got aboard via a walk and then after stealing second, scored when Harris singled him in for the go-ahead run.
Enterprise sophomore pitcher Kelly Burgess scattered six hits while giving up two earned runs, walking zero batters and striking out nine Panthers on Friday in seven innings.
Monday, Hood gave the ball to Ryder Martin, who struck out nine and gave up one unearned run in a complete game victory. Martin walked three and allowed five hits. With two runners on and the tying run at the plate, Martin got a line out to first base to end the game and send EAC on to the second round.
The offense came early for Enterprise on Monday as they scored three runs in the top of the first. Vining, batting second, got aboard via a walk and then Falvey got on when he was hit by a pitch.
A pile of mistakes including a passed ball and a wild pitch led to two runs scoring and then EAC moved the lead to 3-0 when Burgess hit an RBI single.
Regouffre reached via a walk to start the second for Enterprise and then kept on trucking home when Falvey delivered a single later in the inning to score the final run of the day for the Jackets.
The Yellow Jackets are huge favorites in their second-round matchup with Simmons High of Hollandale. There isn’t much online info for Simmons, but it appears the Blue Devils are somewhere around 7-5 on the season. They did not have a first-round opponent and received an opening round bye.
If Enterprise were to eliminate Simmons, they would face either Taylorsville (16-10) or Nanih Waiya (16-7-1) in the 1A quarterfinals.
Enterprise will host game one on Thursday at 7 p.m. Game two will be played at Simmons on Friday at 4:30 p.m. If a third game is needed, it will be played at EAC on Monday.
Wesson 14, McLaurin 2
Wesson 13, McLaurin 2
The Wesson Cobras marched through the McLaurin Tigers over the weekend, winning game one at home 14-2 before going to Rankin County on Saturday for a series clinching 13-2 victory.
Up next in the MHSAA 3A second round for coach Vance Windom and his Cobras (12-11) is a second-round pairing with Seminary High (16-10-1).
Seminary beat Perry Central 12-2 and 8-5 in a first-round sweep.
Freshman infielder Wesley Loy led the Cobras at the plate in game one with three RBIs. Loy hit a double as did sophomore Jack Wilson. Seniors Landan Beasley and Preston Selman each hit a triple as well in the opener for the Cobras. Freshman Dawson Selman drove in two runs as did Preston Selman.
Wyatt Garrett pitched the win, striking out five and walking two in four innings. Garrett gave up two unearned runs on three hits.
Dawson Selman earned the win on the hill in game two. He struck out two, walked three and gave up two earned runs on four hits in five innings. Beasley tripled in game two while Preston Selman and Blayten Windom had a double each.
Beasley drove in a team-best three runs in game two. Preston Selman, Wilson, Windom and Aiden Wallace all had two RBIs each for the Cobras in the victory.
Leading 4-0 after four complete innings, Wesson broke the game open with a nine run fifth inning on Saturday.
Seminary will host game one of the 3A three-game series on Friday at 6 p.m. Game two at Wesson is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Saturday. If a third game is needed, it will be played at Seminary on Monday.