East Central wins 8th straight game

PEARL – East Central came into the Class 4A state championship series on a roll with seven straight playoff wins, including blowouts in its last three games.

The red-hot Hornets made it eight straight Thursday night, getting plenty of help from the Vicksburg Gators with four errors, to go with a 10-hit attack to post a 13-1 romp in five innings in Game 1 of the 4A finals at Trustmark Park.

The Gators (28-9) will give it another try against East Central (29-9) with Game 2 set for Saturday at Trustmark at 4 p.m.

Vicksburg coach Jamie Creel said his team must find a way to respond.

East Central pitcher Phillip Byrd limited the Gators to one run on two hits as he improved to 14-0 on the year. (Joshua Corban * The Vicksburg Post)”We’ve played like this before and came back, so we don’t need to dwell on any negatives. Better to get rid of the jitters all in one game and be ready to go hard on Saturday,” Creel said. “This is a team that’s never been past the second round and we tightened up. We didn’t do a good job.”

A bad first inning set the tone. East Central ace Phillip Byrd struck out the first two Gators he faced and then got Trey Prentiss to fly out to center.

Then in the bottom of the first, leadoff batter Caleb Dickerson roped the first of what would be a four-hit game with a single to center off a 1-2 change-up from Vicksburg ace Stanton Price. Andrew Evans followed by sending a fly ball into right that was at first, lost in the shadows, and then dropped. Trey Porter scored Dickerson on another fly ball to right, this one, though was caught for the first out. Byrd singled to put two on. Justin Parker then hit a grounder to third in what could’ve been the third out of the inning. Instead it was booted, leaving all runners safe.

If you goSaturday, 4 p.m. – Vicksburg vs. East Central, at Trustmark ParkOn the radio: 101.3 FMTickets: $8 per gameOnlineFollow all the action with in-game updatesTaylor Bonifacio drew a bases-loaded walk to score Evans for a 2-0 lead. Matt Linton followed with a two-run single to plate Byrd and Parker for a 4-0 advantage.

“Errors happen,” Price said. “But it did seem like I threw two or three innings all in the first.”

The lone offensive highlight for the Gators was getting a two-out run against Byrd in the top of the second. Brian Fitzgerald drew a walk, stole second and then scored on Blake Hynum’s single to right to cut the EC lead to 4-1.

Having batted through in the first inning, Dickerson was back to leadoff the Hornets’ second inning and he greeted Price with another single. Evans followed with a double and Porter roped a single into the spacious, right-center gap at Trustmark, for another two runs and a 6-1 lead.

Byrd sat the Gators down in order in the third. Two walks, Dickerson’s third hit and a third Gator error, was enough for Creel to take Price out to save him for another shot later in the series.

After speaking to Vicksburg coach Jamie Creel, starting pitcher Stanton Price pauses before his next pitch in the third inning of VHS’ 13-1 loss to East Central in the first game of the Class 4A state championship series at Trustmark Park in Pearl on Thursday. (Joshua Corban * The Vicksburg Post)The Hornets scored nine runs against Price, but only two were earned. He allowed eight hits and struck out one. The loss was only his second in 13 decisions. Andrew Brown and Blake Tarnabine, who hadn’t pitched in six weeks, finished up.

Byrd gave up an infield single to Bowen Woodson in the fourth and then came back to retire the last four Gators to end the game by run rule in five innings.

“We played good defense and got some timely hits,” said Byrd, a South Alabama signee who imrpoved 14-0 on the season. “I wanted to pitch well because this may be the last time I pitch in high school.”

Byrd struck out eight to raise his season total to 164.

Dickerson, who has signed with Gulf Coast Community College, was 4-for-4 with four runs scored and four RBIs.

“We just came here real focused and ready to do our job,” Dickerson said. “They seem to get down after making the errors.”

Porter drove in four runs off just one hit while Linton drove in two off two hits. Every one of the Hornet batters either had a hit or scored a run in the contest.