Blake Dialof Bolton (Tenn.) gets a mouthful of dirt as he slides into third just ahead of the throw to WC’s Brian Pettway Monday in Madison. (The Vicksburg Post/MARK THORNTON)

[03/12/02]MADISON Carl Upton shut down Bolton’s batters Monday. Trouble was, Warren Central’s batters and defense shut down, too.

The Wildcats from Alexandria, Tenn., handed the Vikings their second straight loss, 6-2, in the first game of the Madison Central Spring Break tournament.

“We’ve got to help our pitchers,” said WC coach Randy Broome, whose team had five errors in a 9-4 loss at Terry Saturday. “We’ve got to get a spark from someone.”

Bolton, which finished 21-7 last year, is ranked No. 7 in Tennessee. The Wildcats play in Class 3A, the state’s largest classification.

Playing their first game of the season, left-hander Lance Scoggins and closer Daniel Ball combined for 14 strikeouts and allowed only three hits, all of them for extra bases.

But it was the Vikings (10-3), No. 7 in The Clarion-Ledger, who looked rusty. Every WC starter struck out at least once, and they committed three costly errors.

WC’s Brian Pettway and Joey Lieberman hit two-out solo home runs in the fourth and sixth innings, respectively, and Upton added a leadoff double in the seventh.

The Wildcats’ biggest hit was Brian Orr’s lazy dribbler up the middle in the fifth. But, after a misplay in center field and a bad throw, four runs scored on the play. The Wildcats took a 5-1 lead and never looked back.

“When we heard we were playing them in our first game, we got fired up,” Bolton coach Tommy Scarbrough said, referring to the Vikings’ state championship and No. 4 ranking in USA Today’s final poll of 2001. “That made our workouts easy.”

Upton allowed only four hits in six innings two of which were infield singles while striking out three and walking two.

Both walks were in the fifth inning, which led to the Wildcats’ four-run outburst. Both also came after questionable ball calls with two strikes on the batters.

“He put ’em right where we wanted ’em,” Broome said. “I’ll never blame anything on an umpire … we’ve got to handle our business.”

Upton and Scoggins were locked in a hitless, error-less pitchers’ duel for three innings.

Mark Different pitched the final inning for WC, allowing two hits, striking out one and hitting one batter. Ball struck out four and gave up two hits, including Pettway’s homer, in two innings.

Upton, who took the first loss of his high school career earlier this year, retired the first nine in order before Brad Tillman doubled to start the fourth, then scored on Chris Rogers’ fielder’s choice to make it 1-1. Pettway’s homer to center in the top of the fourth was the first hit of the game.

Scarbrough said that his pitching staff has been riddled with injuries and offseason surgeries, so Scoggins has jumped from No. 3 to No. 1 in the rotation for the time-being.

“We have a great summer program,” said Scarbrough, whose school is about 50 miles east of Nashville.

Bolton’s 16- and 17-year-olds went to the American Legion World Series last summer.

“It was a crazy game … but it was a good win for us,” Scarbrough said.

The Wildcats added another run after some miscommunication between shortstop Joey Lieberman and left-fielder Jeff Mitchell led to a dropped fly. Bolton’s Blake Dial scored on the drop after reaching base on a a grounder that slipped under the glove of Pettway at third.

“Those were routine plays, things we work on in practice every day,” Broome said. “Maybe we need to go over them some more.”

He decided to do just that. After talking to the team on the bus, Broome said he was headed back home “to work on some things and get better” instead of staying to scout Olive Branch, Wednesday’s opponent.

“Right now,” he said, “We have to worry about us.”