Warren Central falls to Clinton|Prep baseball
Published 12:00 am Thursday, April 2, 2009
CLINTON — It took a week, but Clinton finally put Warren Central away and secured the Division 4-5A championship.
Adam Thigpen homered, Grae Orman went 2-for-3 with a pair of RBI singles, and the Arrows held on for a wild 9-7 victory Wednesday in the completion of a suspended game. The victory clinched the division title for Clinton. WC needs one more win over either Provine or Greenville-Weston — both of which it has already run-ruled this season — to secure second place.
The teams played the first two innings on March 26, before heavy rains stopped the action. Clinton (17-2, 6-0 in division play) held a 4-3 lead at the time but it didn’t take Warren Central (6-12, 4-2) long to tie it up when play resumed. Adam Lee was on first when play resumed, and he scored the tying run on a fielder’s choice. Two errors and an RBI single by Jason Pettway helped the Vikings take a 6-4 lead in the top of the fourth inning, but it was short-lived.
Clinton batted around and scored four runs in its half of the fourth. Thigpen blasted a solo homer, and a botched bunt defense by the Vikings led to two more runs. With a runner on first, Patrick Ferguson laid down a bunt between the pitcher’s mound and third base.
Ferguson beat the throw, and Akiko Thompson tried for third. WC first baseman John Michael Harris’ throw across the diamond was wild, allowing Thompson to score. Ferguson ended up at third when no one covered the bag following the error, then scored on a sacrifice fly to tie it at 6.
“We made some mental mistakes,” WC coach Josh Abraham said.
Thigpen’s homer broke the tie, and Clinton added another unearned run before the end of the inning. Ormon’s RBI single made it 9-6 heading to the seventh, but the Vikings had one last rally in them.
Pettway led off the seventh with a solo homer, and two walks and a hit batter loaded the bases with two outs. Keaton Sanders hit a sharp grounder up the middle that Clinton shortstop Carter Brown fielded on one hop. Brown flipped it to second just in time to force out Beau Wallace for the final out.
“We didn’t win. That’s not good enough,” Abraham said. “But the boys competed and fought until the last out was made.”
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Contact Ernest Bowker at ebowker@vicksburgpost.com.