Warren Central manhandles Natchez|[3/12/05]

Published 12:00 am Monday, March 14, 2005

As the fourth inning of Warren Central’s game against Natchez dragged on Friday night, even the WC players were ready for it to be over. It was cold, the game was out of hand and it was time to go home.

And yet, it kept going. Wave after wave of batters, 18 of them in all. Thirteen runs. Thirty-five minutes of Viking dominance.

The Vikings blew open a fairly close game with their 13-run outburst and destroyed Natchez 19-1. Eric Douglas went 3-for-4 with a triple and two RBIs, Ryan Grey hit a massive three-run homer and Will Mendrop had a pair of RBI singles for WC.

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“It’s hard to stay in the game after a thing like that,” Grey said of the long fourth inning. “You’re just sitting over there, it’s getting cold and you’re getting tired and you’re ready to go home.”

Charles Cothern was one of the few bright spots for Natchez (4-8, 0-2). He went 2-for-2 with a double and a single, and scored the Bulldogs’ only run.

“If we could play a game for two innings, we’d be undefeated,” said Natchez coach Charlie Williams, whose team was tied 1-1 with the Vikings heading into the bottom of the second. “We usually beat our opponent for two innings and then we lose it. Our pitcher gets a little erratic and we just lose it.”

WC took the lead for good with a five-run second inning. Douglas, Josh Gordon and Cody Ferguson each had a triple, Mendrop had an RBI single, and Nick Carson delivered a sacrifice fly to key the rally.

That outburst was just a warm-up for the fourth, though.

The inning started innocently enough, with a single by Ben Koestler. Zach Balthrop then reached on an error, and Koestler scored on an RBI groundout by Gordon to make it 7-1.

It was the last out Natchez got for a while.

The next six Viking hitters reached base, with Douglas and Mendrop delivering RBI singles. Drew Warnock and Carson also drew bases-loaded walks before Koestler’s sacrifice fly to right made it 12-1.

The Vikings sent seven more batters to the plate before pinch-hitter Jonathan Ettinger flied out to center to put an end to the madness.

Mixed into the second half of the inning was a massive three-run homer by Grey that traveled well over 400 feet. The bomb made it 18-1 and put a fitting cap on the blowout.

“It feels good. It’s just like slicing through butter,” Grey said of the homer. “There’s nothing there, you’re just swinging right through it and letting it ride.”