Vicksburg starts Zumbro era with two wins

Published 11:53 pm Saturday, February 26, 2011

A sunny Saturday at Bazinsky Field made for a great debut for Vicksburg High coach Cody Zumbro.

Zumbro’s Gators netted a pair of impressive wins, beating Terry 6-1 and Hazlehurst 13-0.

Zumbro was pleased with the day’s outcome, but knows his team faces a challenging week ahead with four games. Three are against Alabama powers at the Mid-Mississippi Classic.

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“It feels good that we were able to play good today,” Zumbro said. “We still have a lot of room for improvement. Next week we’re going to have to rise to the challenge of playing those Alabama schools, but we also can’t overlook Yazoo City (on Tuesday), especially after they beat us last year.”

Vicksburg (2-0) got a big boost Saturday when Clyde Kendrick delivered an impressive performance against Hazlehurst. He struck out nine in four innings of work on the mound, and drove in five runs at the plate. He had three hits, including a two-run triple in the fourth inning to account for the last of Vicksburg’s 13 runs.

Kendrick’s hit total was more than the number of baserunners Hazlehurst had. The Indians managed only two walks against the junior left-hander, and only one runner got to third base.

“I just wanted to throw strikes and have us play some hard ball,” Kendrick said. “I really wanted them to just put the ball in play, but it worked out the other way with them swinging and missing.”

Zumbro said Kendrick will be a key to the Gators’ rotation this season. Cody Waddell went six strong innings against Terry in Saturday’s opener to grab the win, while No. 2 pitcher Cameron Cooksey pitched a scoreless seventh.

“Clyde could fill that missing piece in our rotation,” Zumbro said. “He threw well today. We just need for him to develop a third pitch.”

Kendrick hopes he can step up next week at the Mid-Mississippi Classic. Thursday at Northwest Rankin, Vicksburg opens the tournament against Hillcrest Evergreen, a Class 4A school from southern Alabama. On Friday they get Cullman for the third straight year, this time at Pearl, then they conclude the tournament the following day with Huntsville at Pearl.

“I think if we stick together we can beat those good teams,” Kendrick said. “We just need to execute, but do it quicker than we did today.”

Zumbro was able to clear his bench against the Indians (0-2). Seven reserves got at-bats and eight saw action in the field.

“It was good to see our young guys step up,” Zumbro said. “Those guys will help fill some spots as the year goes on.”

Pacing the Gator subs was Rashard Bell, who had an RBI single. John Plummer and Bobby Twilley reached on walks and scored, while Gabe Bufkin singled and scored.

Cooksey, who is splitting time between the baseball field and basketball court, where he’s a member of the Gators’ state tournament bound basketball team, had two hits and drove in two runs.

Vicksburg led 4-0 after two innings. They added five runs in the third with Justin Pettway driving in one and Cooksey two with singles. Kendrick capped the rally with a two-run single off Hazlehurst starter and losing pitcher Kenneth Coleman.

Against Terry, Jonathan Clay had three doubles to pace the Gators. The game was tied at 1 through four innings, but Vicksburg scored five times in the fifth to take a 6-1 lead. Taylor Brocato’s two-run double was the key blow and Clay followed with his third double of the day.

Lamar Anthony reached base three times off a hit and two walks. He scored one run.

Josh Townes took the loss for Terry, which was coming off a thrilling 4-3 victory over Warren Central in Friday night’s season opener at Viking Field.