VHS falls to Natchez in 11-2 rout|[9/27/06]
Published 12:00 am Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Natchez brought out its bats Tuesday to Halls Ferry Park and with them pounded out a ticket to the Class 5A playoffs.
The Lady Bulldogs (2-7, 2-2) clinched a playoff berth by ripping 17 hits in an 11-2 win over the Vicksburg Missy Gators.
Natchez’s Nos. 2 through 5 hitters combined for 12 hits, nine runs and six RBIs. Tiryonna Green went 4-for-4 and drove in two while Kierra Jones had three hits, scored four runs and drove in two off a sixth inning, inside the park home run that sewed up the victory.
“We’re beginning to hit a little bit better at the end of the season. This was more of what we expected,” said Natchez coach Charlie Williams. “We made more contact today and just played extremely well in what has been a down season for us. This was just our second win, but at least they were big wins in the district.”
Natchez’s other win was a 4-0 blanking of the Missy Gators last week in Natchez. VHS coach Laura Coulter was hoping the team that played well last week would show up Tuesday and earn the club’s first win of the season. It didn’t happen.
“It’s disappointing that we played on a higher level last week over there, but today we were at a much lower level. We didn’t show up today,” Coulter said. “They hit the ball today and didn’t hit that well over there, but we also did a good job of holding them to just four runs.”
Vicksburg (0-13, 0-4) was in the game early, trailing just 3-1 going into the bottom of the third inning. Olivia King and Claire Ray each got one out hits but were left on base as the next two Missy Gators popped out and struck out.
Natchez got some cushion in the fifth with three runs. Jones and Green led off with singles. Tori Paxton later had a two-run single to move the score to 6-1.
Five runs in the sixth, highlighted by Jones’ two-run homer and Green’s fourth hit of the game, put the game away.
Brandon 8, WC 3.
Brandon scored four runs in the bottom of the first inning, then four more late, to beat Warren Central. Lindzy Keyes went 3-for-3 with two RBIs for Brandon.
Shawn Johnson drove in two runs with a single and a sacrifice fly for Warren Central (16-5), which collected 10 hits but left eight runners on base. Kaitlyn Patton and Tiffany Fuller added two hits apiece.