Playing on a 60-by-90-foot baseball diamond for the first time in a competitive tournament was both exciting and challenging for the Vicksburg Destruction.

The 12-year-olds’ United States Specialty Sports Association team made its debut on the bigger diamond against a seasoned 13-year-olds’ select team coached by former Porters Chapel Academy coach Randy Wright. Wright’s Vicksburg Lightning won, 8-2, but the Destruction had their moments.

Warner Adcock was sharp at shortstop making all five available plays, including a double play in the second inning. The Destruction also made constant contact at the plate, striking out just once against four different Lightning pitchers.

It was a still a vastly different game from the Little League dimensions of a 50-by-60-foot surface, said the Destruction’s Landon Middleton.

“It was a lot harder,” Middleton said. “It was a new experience for us. To me, it was a lot easier to hit the ball because it was coming from a longer distance. But it was a whole lot harder for us to pitch and throw to a base.”

Destruction catcher and first baseman Cameron Kurtz backed up Middleton’s assessment.

“It was a lot harder game,” Kurtz said.

For Wright’s Lightning, the game was just another in a long string of tournament baseball. It was the Lightning’s 47th game this season and the win improves them to 28-19 on the year.

“I’ve had this team since February,” said Wright, who won three state baseball titles as PCA’s coach during an 11-year stint there. “We’ve had a ton of success this year. We’ve won six tournaments, we were third in the USSSA (Class) AA State Tournament and we went to the (USSSA) World Series at Gulf Shores.”

But there is more to Wright’s mission for the Lightning.

“The reason why I was asked to take this team was to prepare them for high school baseball,” Wright said. “I have 12 players and six will play for St. Al and six will play for Warren Central.”

The Lightning built an 8-0 lead after four innings. Josh Lieberman drove in three runs, including two on a single in the fourth inning. Lofton Varner scored two runs and knocked in two while Lee Simpson had two hits, scored once and drove in one.

Casey Griffith pitched three innings of middle relief to grab the win. He allowed two hits and two walks.

Chandler Luke and Middleton notched RBIs for the Destruction, which scored both of their runs in the fifth inning. Dillon Green, Carlton Jeter, Warner Adcock and Matthew Newcoms had a single apiece for the Destruction.