Vicksburg, St. Al ousted from state playoffs Southaven uses huge third inning to bombard Gators

Published 12:00 am Monday, April 28, 2003

Vicksburg High players and coaches huddle behind second base for a postgame talk after losing to Southaven 13-1. The second-round playoff loss also ended the Gators’ season. (Melanie Duncan Thortis The Vicksburg Post)

If three is the magic number, the Vicksburg Gators are cursed.

For the second night in a row, the Gators (19-9) self-destructed in the third inning, and were unable to force a deciding third game in a 13-1 mercy-rule shortened loss to Southaven.

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The Chargers will play either Clinton or Northwest Rankin in the North State championship series.

On Friday, the Chargers scored 11 runs on 10 hits, took advantage of three Gators’ errors and sent 16 batters to the plate en route to a 12-2 win.

On Saturday, the Chargers sent 13 batters to the plate and scored nine runs in the third inning. A Vicksburg error again played a huge role in the outburst.

“I don’t know what it is,” said winning pitcher Brach Davis about the Chargers’ success in the third innings. “I guess we go through the pitcher one time, then start turning it on.”

The Chargers chased VHS starter James Jackson in the third after he allowed the eight runs in the inning. He walked the first two batters, then an outfield error loaded the bases for the first of Kyle Chunn’s two home runs a grand slam that started the onslaught.

“It was like one thing happens, then they get like eight hits in a row,” said Vicksburg shortstop Justin Henry, who was held hitless in his final game. “You do one thing wrong, but you still have to hit the baseball, and sometimes you can’t do anything about that.”

Michael Guerrero had an RBI single, then scored on a passed ball as Southaven took a 7-1 lead. Davis added a two-RBI double off Henry, who replaced Jackson, for a 9-1 lead.

Coming into the series, the Gators’ scouting reports had the Chargers as a strong fielding and pitching team that was not particularly strong at the plate. In the opening-round series win over Madison, Southaven had only eight hits in two games.

Against VHS, though, Southaven scored 25 runs on 23 hits.

“We were having some troubles at the plate coming into this series,” said Southaven centerfielder K.K. Chalmers, who was 2-for-2, but reached base 7 of 8 times in the two-game series. “We’re starting to swing the bats.”

The rest of the Gators’ scouting report fit perfectly.

Davis allowed only one run and scattered five hits in the five-inning complete game victory. Paul Gorney led Vicksburg with a double and a single, and Justin Boler had an RBI groundout.

The Chargers also excelled on defense, and Chalmers was the main reason. He made four sprinting catches on hard line drives two off the bat of Henry that would have scored at least two runs.

“K.K. Chalmers was the difference in this game, hands down, no ifs, ands, buts or questions about it,” Vicksburg coach Jamie Creel said. “The ball Justin (Henry) hit in the second inning would have got us on the board 1-0 was unbelievable. (Chalmers) went and got it, took a run and a surefire triple away …”

Josh McBride, who singled, was stealing on Henry’s shot and had already rounded second when Chalmers made the grab. Chalmers threw to first to complete the double play and end the inning.

Southaven took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second on a three-base outfield error, but Vicksburg came right back.

Gorney and Jackson each singled to put runners on first and second with no outs. Davis, though, retired the next three batters to keep VHS off the board.

“Our pitchers have been the difference makers the whole playoffs,” Chalmers said. “In the games against Madison and Vicksburg, they just kept us in the ballgames.”

Leading 9-0 after the third, Southaven scored two runs on RBI singles by Guerrero and Payton Tindall for an 11-0 lead.

Vicksburg scored its lone run in the bottom of the fourth, but Southaven ended the game with Chunn’s second home run of the game a two run blast. Chalmers, Guerrero and Alex Fennell each had two hits in the win, and Chunn had six RBIs.

“If they’re light hitters, I would hate to see strong ones,” Henry said. “They stroked the baseball.”

The Gators end the season as the first team in school history to advance to the second round of the state playoffs. Vicksburg will lose four seniors the entire infield to graduation. As a unit, they won 80 games over four seasons.

“Words can’t describe the impact those seniors have had on this program,” Creel said.