[2/22/04]STARKVILLE John Hendrix pitched out of jam after jam, then Steven Price put Kosciusko in a jam.

With two outs and two on in the bottom of the seventh, Price slapped a looper that dropped in shallow left field between third and short to score Shannon Tillman and give No. 19 Vicksburg High a 6-5 win over the 15th-ranked Whippets on Saturday.

Hendrix and the Gators withstood the Whippets’ 10 hits, a four-run comeback and a triple play to pull off the complete-game win. He struck out six and walked four. Kosciusko pitchers allowed six hits, struck out eight, walked two and hit five VHS batters.

“It’s unfortunate that it had to come down to a Bermuda Triangle play, but those are the breaks of the game,” VHS coach Jamie Creel said. “They got the triple play … the breaks have a way of evening out.”

Price, a sophomore left fielder, went 3-for-3 and designated hitter Nathan Baylot had a two-run single that highlighted the Gators’ three-run first inning. James Jackson, who had a sacrifice fly in the first, added an RBI single in the third and Sean McGowan followed with an RBI groundout to give the Gators a 5-1 lead.

But the Whippets, who put their leadoff man on base in each of the first five innings, came up with some big hits in the fourth inning. Catcher John Reuben Cox and McCrory hit back-to-back two-out, two-run singles to tie it at 5-5 in the top of the fourth inning.

“I kept falling behind in the count, and it seemed like there were always one or two on base,” said Hendrix, a junior left-hander. “When you put yourself in a jam, you have to throw it down the middle, and they were hitting it.”

But they weren’t hitting it at the right times, Kosciusko coach Kevin Pullen said. The Whippets stranded 11 runners on base, five in scoring position.

“We didn’t take advantage of our opportunities in the first three innings, and that came back to haunt us,” said Pullen, whose team left runners on second and third in the second inning then left the bases loaded in the third.

“That last hit was a play our guys make 99 times out of 100, but that isn’t what cost us the game. In a one-run game, there are a lot of little things you can look at.”

In the first four innings, McCrory struck out six and hit batters five times Tyler Wells twice. Two of those went on to score. Lucas Myers replaced McCrory in the fifth inning with runners on first and second and the score tied 5-5. Jackson, the first batter he faced, hit a soft liner to second with the hit-and-run on. Isreal Lepard caught the ball, flipped it to Allen Howell at short, and he tossed it to first in time to pull off the triple play.

Myers didn’t allow a hit until Price’s game-winner.

Howell went 3-for-4 from the leadoff spot and Wes Myers was 2-for-3. Neither team committed an error and neither team had an extra-base hit.

“This was a good opportunity for these young players to play in a close game,” Creel said. “That builds character.”

Starkville 5, VHS 4

In the second game of the doubleheader, Starkville’s Jace Abraham gave the Gators a taste of their own medicine by singling in the game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Starkville scored three runs in the last two innings to overcome a 4-2 deficit. The winning run reached base on an error.

James Jackson went the distance for VHS (1-1), striking out nine and walking five while scattering six hits. Blake Tidwell had two hits for Vicksburg, while Jordan Henry and Sean McGowan each drove in a run.

St. Al 9, Natchez 5

St. Aloysius scored four runs in the top of the ninth inning, and Andy Wiles went the distance as the Flashes beat Class 5A Natchez.

St. Al scored four in the third inning to take its first lead of the game, 4-1.

The Bulldogs responded with three of their own in their half of the third to lock the game at 4.

The Flashes reclaimed the lead in the fourth with a run before Natchez once again answered with a run in the bottom of the fifth.

Travis Noble, Keymond Williams and Aaron Ratliff all collected doubles for the Bulldogs. Noble, Ratliff and Kossumm all collected two hits in their respective at-bats.

Curtis Robertson and Kyle Richards led St. Al with three hits apiece.

Andy Wiles picked up the win for the Flashes.

The Flashes are scheduled to play against Forest Hill on Tuesday at 6 p.m. in Jackson