[6/7/03]HATTIESBURG It didn’t matter who the North All-Stars put on the mound Saturday night, because the South team managed to get to each of them.

The South scored five runs off three pitchers between the third and seventh innings to win the Mississippi High School Class 4A/5A All-Star game 5-3.

The scene was set for a dramatic finish as the North squad loaded the bases with one out for power-hitting Jon Still of Madison Central, but he grounded into a double play to end the game.

“You can’t ask for anything more in the last inning, getting your big hitter to come up with the bases loaded and one out, but that’s the game of baseball,” said Vicksburg High coach Jamie Creel, one of two coaches for the North. “It’s unfortunate that he hit it right to somebody.”

Vicksburg’s Josh McBride and Justin Henry contributed to each of North’s three runs.

McBride finished 2-for-2 with an RBI, and Henry, an Ole Miss signee, went 1-for-3 with a walk, hit by pitch and two runs scored.

“I think we did a good job,” Henry said. “I was able to get on base a little bit and Josh came through with two big hits. We played good defensively also, so I think we came out here and made a good showing.”

Henry was selected for next Saturday’s MHSAA/MPSA All-Star game and he also earned the Mark Vinson Award for good character both on and off the field.

Vinson was a catcher for Brandon High in 1993 who had battled with Leukemia for five years before losing the fight in July of that year.

In their final game together, Vicksburg’s double play duo got to show off their fielding early on.

Henry helped catch Hattiesburg’s Gregory Alexander in a rundown. Henry caught the throw from first, chased the runner, faked a throw and tagged Alexander out.

In the second, Henry and McBride accounted for all three outs with slick fielding on grounders. Over the first three innings, Henry and McBride were responsible for six of the nine outs.

“Josh really played well today, and they both played well defensively,” Creel said. “They’ve been playing together since they were nine, how fitting for them to have a great game today.”

Chase Dorsey of Clinton got things going for the North in the top of the third with a double to left field. McBride followed with a single to make the score to 1-0.

The South responded in the bottom of the inning with two runs.

Meridian’s Maurice Cole led off with a double over the head of T. Mac Howard in right field and advanced to third on a ground out.

Alexander, the South MVP and offensive player of the game, reached on an error and stole second base before Picayune’s Richard Imhoff doubled just past McBride to right center, bringing both runners in.

A pair of leadoff singles for the South in the fourth turned into another run when Alexander singled with two outs to up the score to 3-1.

“That’s a great team we played tonight,” Creel said. “There’s not any bad ballplayers on that team. Everybody’s got great ball clubs when you get to this level. You get the best of the best.”

Henry was hit by a pitch to lead off the sixth. He scored after a pitching change to pull the South to within two runs, 4-2. The North did not get any closer than two runs the rest of the game.

“It was a great time to get to come out here and play with all these great players,” Henry said.

McBride was glad both he and Henry had good games in their final outing together.

“We played well,” McBride said. “So nothing better than to end on that kind of note.”