Misfits cruise by Jaguars

Published 12:00 am Sunday, August 9, 2009

The Vicksburg Misfits were aptly attired in five different sets of uniforms from Warren Central, Vicksburg High and Porters Chapel, but their bond as a baseball team goes back at least eight years.

Playing for perhaps the final time together, the Misfits won their second game of the day at the 16-year-olds’ Governor’s Cup Tournament Saturday evening, beating the Mississippi Jaguars out of Port Gibson 9-3 at Bazinsky Field. The win secured a bye into today’s semifinals for the Misfits against The Other Team or the Choctaw Hurricanes at 3 p.m.

“We go back a ways. Way before Babe Ruth. I think it was when we combined the old A’s and Mudcat teams when we were nine,” said Misfits player Montana McDaniel, who last May led PCA to the MPSA Class A championship and was named the Warren County Co-Player of the Year.

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Will Hedgespeth, who last year played for Clinton High but has since transferred to Madison Ridgeland Academy, said the group’s been together even longer.

“It started when we were eight,” corrected Hedgespeth, who got the pitching win in the day’s opening game, a 10-5 decision over the Choctaw Hurricanes out of Philadelphia. “This is a fun group of guys.”

Against the Jaguars, the Misfits had just four hits, but took advantage of nine walks and two hit batsmen. Clayton Ashley, who plays for Warren Central, had a solo home run in the first inning and Justin Pettway of VHS had a two-run triple in the fourth to break the game open.

“Yeah, and it was unexpected because I had two strikes on me and I was looking to just get on base,” Pettway said. “It’s awesome to play with these guys again. We may be at different schools but we’ve stayed friends throughout all these years.”

Getting to play together is something Jaguars coach Silento Sayles Sr. is trying to do for the Port Gibson baseball program. The Governor’s Cup is the team’s fourth tournament this summer.

“We went to one in Texas and did real well there, taking first place in five games. We’ve also played in two tournaments in Baton Rouge. But with all the rain, we’ve been kind of off and on,” Sayles said.

The Jaguars played The Other Team to a 1-0 loss in their first Cup game on Saturday. They were tied at 1 after two innings with the Misfits when they walked five in the third inning.

“The walks killed me. We walked too many,” Sayles said.

The Jaguars were left with a 5-1 deficit. They came back to score two in the bottom of the third as Silento Sayles Jr. knocked in a run to make it 5-3.

The Misfits then scored four more in the fourth to go up 9-3. Beau Wallace got hit by a pitch to bring one run in while McDaniel drove in another with a sacrifice fly. Pettway’s triple capped the scoring.

Taylor Brocato of VHS struck out five in three strong innings to grab the win. Ashley pitched a scoreless fourth.

Ashley and McDaniel will likely pick up most of the pitching today, even though both have not had much work this summer.

“I can’t wait until tomorrow to pitch,” McDaniel said with a smile. In last year’s Cup final, McDaniel pitched four innings of relief to lead the Brown’s Bombers to the title over the Misfits.

Ashley led the Misfits at the plate with a home run and three runs scored. Wallace and Pettway drove in two each. Sayles had two hits for the Jaguars.

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Contact Jeff Byrd at jbyrd@vicksburgpost.com