Even in defeat Sunday, Sam Temple was smiling.

Everything about the Wes Cliburn Classic tournament at Bazinsky Field had gone according to plan, from the large crowds to the way his team played for most of the weekend.

Hinds lost to Mississippi Delta on Sunday afternoon, 5-1, spoiling a truly perfect weekend for the Eagles. But it wasn’t enough to ruin it for Temple. His team won three of four in the tournament, helping it bounce back from a slow 3-9 start to the year.

&#8220Coming in, with the record that we had, this has been a good weekend for us, period. This team has continued to play baseball and be positive, and it’s still early,” Temple said.

Beyond the diamond, Temple was also pleased. A late-arriving crowd swelled the attendance for the game against Mississippi Delta to about 500, and the Hinds coach said he was happy with the level of support the Cliburn Classic enjoyed in its first year in Vicksburg. The tournament had been played on the Hinds campus in Raymond since its inception in 1999.

&#8220I’ve tried my best to thank everybody in Vicksburg,” said Temple, a Vicksburg native who played high school ball at Porters Chapel and later coached Warren Central to a state championship. &#8220We’re going to be here every year, as long as everybody wants us to be here. This team is going to get better every year, and hopefully in a couple of years we’ll bring in a team that’s nationally ranked, the crowds will get bigger as they come out and support us and more of the Vicksburg young men join us at Hinds. I’m going to make that happen, there’s no doubt about that.”

Hinds earned a pair of hard-fought wins on the tournament’s first day, and scratched out a 5-4 win over Kishwaukee (Ill.) in Sunday night’s finale. In Sunday’s opener against Mississippi Delta, however, the Eagles struggled in key situations.

Hinds (6-10) left runners on in every inning and got its only run on a solo homer by Jess Shelby in the bottom of the fifth. Reed Prewitt had three of Hinds’ seven hits, including two doubles, but was stranded each time.

&#8220We did enough with the sticks. We just didn’t do it when runners were in scoring position,” Temple said. &#8220We got some big hits to get guys in scoring position, but then (Mississippi Delta pitcher Jacob Maggard) bowed up and got us out when he needed to.”

A lot of Hinds’ trouble had to do with Maggard. The Arkansas State signee allowed seven hits – one in each inning – and struck out six. Deftly mixing up his pitches, Maggard did not allow a runner past second base other than Shelby’s home run.

&#8220My fastball was good, and my coaches did a good job of calling pitches,” said Maggard, who improved to 5-0 on the season.

The Trojans gave Maggard plenty of run support, too. Anthony Palasini went 2-for-3 with two RBIs, including an RBI single in the first inning that gave Mississippi Delta a 1-0 lead.

Dean Lewis belted a one-out, solo home run in the top of the fifth to trigger a three-run rally and later walked and scored a run in the sixth. And the Trojans manufactured two runs in the fifth, with an error, a hit batsman, an infield single and a bases-loaded walk. Palasini capped the inning with a sacrifice fly that put his team ahead 4-0.

&#8220That’s nice. Any time they score runs for you, it’s a nice feeling,” Maggard said.