PEARL — Vicksburg’s great week had a sour ending Saturday.

Lewisburg’s Max Wade singled with the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh inning, bringing in the winning run in the Patriots’ 5-4 victory over Vicksburg in the Mid-Mississippi Classic.

The loss spoiled an otherwise strong first week of the season for the Gators. They went 4-1 before losing Saturday, including a thrilling 12-11 win over Cullman, Ala. and 4-2 over Brandon in their other Mid-Mississippi Classic games. For VHS coach Jamie Creel, who replaced all nine starters from last year’s team, it’s an encouraging sign for the future.

“Four and two overall, the progression we’ve made … I thought we grew up at times and just had a minor setback today. We’ll overcome it,” Creel said.

What the Gators couldn’t overcome against Lewisburg (4-2) was their own mistakes. Vicksburg pitchers put the leadoff man on base five times. Four of those were via a walk or hit batter, and all four went on to score. Lewisburg only had four hits, but took advantage of six walks — two of them intentional — and three hit batsmen to score their runs.

“They about killed us. A leadoff walk, they’d bunt him over to second, then drive him in,” Creel said. “Five runs on four hits is a tough pill to swallow. I didn’t think we brought our ‘A’ game emotionally after last night.”

The last leadoff walk turned out to be the difference.

Lewisburg’s Dylan Castoria started the seventh with a free pass and went to second on a wild pitch. In between a groundout, Creel elected to load the bases with a pair of intentional walks to set up a force play at home. He also moved right fielder Justin Pettway into the infield to take advantage of a ground ball.

Wade found an easy way around the extra defender, though. He blasted a Keaton Jones fastball off the wall in left field, bringing in Castoria with the winning run.

“I was thinking the left fielder was really far over toward center and I just wanted to get it to the left side,” Wade said.

The hit was Wade’s only one of the game. His teammate Aaron Smith doubled and drove in three runs, while Castoria and Colt Burns each scored twice.

Jonathan Clay went 2-for-3 with a double, two RBIs and a run scored for Vicksburg, while Lamar Anthony doubled and scored two runs.