[04/11/01]

Lieberman’s slam highlights huge 1st for WC

Warren Central’s game at Greenville Tuesday was over shortly after the last Viking stepped off the bus.

The top-ranked Vikings (27-1, 6-0 Division 3-5A) sent 23 batters to the plate and scored 17 runs in the first inning, then cruised to a 19-1 win. Fourteen Viking batters reached safely before the first out was recorded.

Joey Lieberman’s grand slam highlighted the inning, which also featured a two-run double by Kevin Coker, a two-run single by Brent Towne, and a couple of bases-loaded walks.

Coker went 3-for-4 with a double and four RBIs, Brian Pettway went 2-for-3 with a double and two RBIs, and Carl Upton had an RBI single.

Andrew Simmons struck out nine and allowed one walk and three hits in five innings to get the win.

WC will face Parkview Baptist (Baton Rouge, La.) Thursday at 7 p.m. at Brandon.

Brown comes up big as Gators cruise

Vicksburg High got some big hitting performances by Justin Henry and J.J. Brown to notch its 20th win of the season, 12-2 over Gentry at Mississippi Valley State.

Brown went 4-for-4 with two doubles, two triples and an RBI, and Henry was 3-for-4 with a double to pace the Gators (20-6, 4-2 Division 3-5A). Ryan Grey added an RBI double, John Rohrer doubled and Josh McBride tripled.

Justin Boler got the win, striking out five and walking two in five innings. He allowed two hits.

VHS scored three runs in the first, third and fourth innings to take a 9-0 lead. The Gators got 11 hits, but brought most of their runs home on wild pitches, passed balls and Rams’ errors.

After Gentry got on the board with two in the bottom of the fourth, the Gators responded with three more in the fifth to make it 12-2. Boler then shut down the Rams in the bottom of the inning to end the game by the mercy rule.

The Gators host Forest Hill Thursday at 6 p.m.

Hearn’s no-no puts St. Al in playoffs

Ryan Hearn threw his second no-hitter of the season and Clay Simmons went 3-for-3 as St. Aloysius nipped Scott Central 4-2 Tuesday to seal up a playoff berth.

The Flashes (17-1), who have won 11 in a row, play Puckett Thursday at Warren Central and can win the division title at Lake on Saturday.

Hearn struck out 11 and walked three, but four errors in the fourth inning let the Rebels score two runs and pull within a run, 3-2.

St. Al was able to score once more in the seventh. Blake Warnock had a double while Lee Wiles and Charlie Amborn both had RBIs.

Simmons, who found out Tuesday he was selected to play in the Class 1A/2A/3A All-Star game this summer, had three of the Flashes’ six hits.

“That’s just a little icing on the cake for our season,” St. Al coach Joe Graves said of Simmons’ honor.