Vicksburg loses another heartbreaker against Madison
Published 12:00 am Wednesday, March 12, 2003
[3/12/03]MADISON Nothing seems to be going Vicksburg High’s way lately.
The Gators rallied from a 7-1 deficit to take the lead in the seventh inning against defending Class 5A state champion Madison Central on Tuesday, then watched as the Jaguars rallied for two runs in the bottom of the inning to win 9-8.
After opening the season with four straight wins, Vicksburg has now lost its last five three of them in its opponents’ final at-bat. The Gators also dropped their first game at the Madison Central tournament on Tuesday, 9-2 against Olive Branch.
“It’s nothing to me,” VHS coach Jamie Creel said of the losing streak.
“The season starts again next Tuesday against Forest Hill. All these games are doing nothing but making us better. We’re seeing quality pitching day-in and day-out, quality hitting … Every team we play is a good ballclub and all it does is make you stronger for district play.”
Sean Gibbs and Paul Gorney each had RBI singles for Vicksburg (4-5) against Madison, James Jackson was 2-for-4, and Steven Price and Rob Quimby each had two RBIs.
For Madison (5-3), Dillon Sudduth tripled and drove in three runs, Tolliver McMullen went 2-for-4 with a double and four RBIs, and Jon Still had an RBI single.
Madison Central took a 7-1 lead into the sixth inning and seemed to have the Gators down and out, but Vicksburg’s first six batters reached base in the sixth.
Gibbs drove in a run with a single, and Price was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to bring home another run before Quimby delivered a two-run single to cut it to 7-5.
Hampton Calvin and Justin Henry then followed with RBI groundouts to tie the game, 7-7.
After Madison went down in order in the bottom of the sixth, Vicksburg took the lead, 8-7, in the seventh on a sacrifice fly by Price.
Madison was far from finished, however. Jaguar center fielder Nathan Butler led off the bottom of the seventh and got a new life when his foul pop-up in front of the Vicksburg dugout fell in between three Gators.
Two pitches later, Butler hit a laser deep down the left field line that stayed just inside the foul pole for a game-tying home run. Creel charged out of the dugout to protest the call, to no avail.
“I thought it was fair. Of course, I’m the guy that received the run,” Madison coach Gregg Perry said with a smile.
“I was standing pretty much on the line when it went out, and I thought it was fair. It was hooking, but it was fair.”
After a groundout, Madison loaded the bases on a single and two walks to bring up McMullen. Creel rearranged his defense, moving several players around and putting an extra fielder between first and second to form a five-man infield, but the Gators were playing too far back to field the bunt McMullen laid down between the pitcher’s mound and first base.
Vicksburg second baseman Josh McBride charged the ball, but had no play at the plate as Alex Hinton scored the winning run unchallenged.
“They were playing back a little. A little more than I expected, probably,” Perry said. “I think Jamie was probably thinking we were going to swing away with that kid we had up. He’s a pretty good hitter. It was just our night to push one in there.”