The Vicksburg Red Sox couldn’t hold the rope in their opener in the Governor’s Cup.

The Red Sox jumped out to a 3-0 lead, but were undone by a few mental lapses as the Northwest Rankin Thunder put five on the board in the pivotal second inning to take a 5-3 win on Friday at the Bluff Field in the 12-year-old tournament.

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“That was a great major team out of Northwest Rankin, a great ballclub,” Red Sox coach Rick Smith said. “I thought we played well and competed well with them. If not for a few walks and a few mental mistakes, I feel we would have won the ballgame.”

Zack Cox struck out three in a strong performance, but his infield was unable to shake off the rust of a long layoff, committing two errors that lead to a pair of runs for the Thunder.

“Zack Cox threw a great game,” Smith said. “He’s a top-notch pitcher. We’ve played a lot of tournaments this summer, but we’ve been rained out or lost a day in four of them. So there was a bit of rust.”

Early on, the Red Sox took advantage of some wildness from Northwest hurler Ryan Pugh, as they loaded up the bases in the top of the first. Chris Prentiss and Derrick Dolan both scored off a wild pitch and an error respectively, but it’d be all the Red Sox could muster.

After Cox retired the side in the bottom of the first, Prentiss faced a two-out, one-on situation in the top of the second. Prentiss drove the Pugh offering all the way to the wall, where the blast just barely missed being over for a homer.

Jacob Breedan scored to put the Sox up 3-0.

In the second, the Thunder struck their primary blows.

A pair of walks put two on for Tyler Kirby and Hunter Thomas, who drove in runs with RBI singles. The rest of the five runs came off two errors and a wild pitch.

In the third, Cox drew a walk, but the Sox were unable to make a dent into the score before the game was called because of the 80-minute time limit for pool play games.

The Red Sox, the USAAA state champs, return to action on one of the Bazinsky softball fields today at 9 a.m. against the Bayou Bandits.

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Contact Steve Wilson at swilson@vicksburgpost.com