Gators KO Callaway for division win

Published 1:00 am Saturday, March 22, 2014

Vicksburg’s Jeffrey Nelson (8) is congratulated by teammate Josh Sterling (30) after scoring a run in the fifth inning of Friday’s 17-7 win over Callaway. Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post

Vicksburg’s Jeffrey Nelson (8) is congratulated by teammate Josh Sterling (30) after scoring a run in the fifth inning of Friday’s 17-7 win over Callaway. Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post

It hasn’t been an easy time, but Vicksburg High made it through the first week of division play unscathed.

John Plummer went 4-for-5 with two triples and six RBIs to lead the Gators to a 17-7 win over Callaway Friday night at Bazinsky Field.

The Gators (4-6, 2-0 Division 4-5A) jumped out to a 6-0 lead after two innings, but had to sidestep five errors to stay ahead of the Chargers. That came after they nearly squandered a late three-run lead before beating Pearl on Tuesday.

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Michael Rohrer and Marc Grace had three hits apiece for Vicksburg, and Tyler Smith earned the win with 11⁄3 innings of relief.

 Warren Central 19, Murrah 0

Cameron Upton threw a one-hit shutout, and also went 2-for-3 with a double and three RBIs to lead Warren Central (9-2, 2-0 Division 4-6A) to a rout of Murrah (1-9, 0-2) for the second time this week.

Upton gave up a leadoff single in the bottom of the first inning, and not much else. He struck out nine batters and hit one in the five-inning game.

WC’s bats also hammered Murrah’s pitching again. Chipper Leech went 2-for-3 with a triple and five RBIs, and the Vikings had six extra base hits. Hunter Bell, Zach Cox, Jeremy Jones and Hunter Simrall all doubled.

Carlisle Koestler, Curtis Ross and John Morgan McRight had two hits apiece.

Murrah only had one hit and was outscored 32-0 in two games against WC this week. Warren Central has won four straight games.

“I’m happy the way we played the game and not the team or the field conditions,” WC coach Conner Douglas said. “We are swinging the bats really well right now, hitting the ball on the screws, the pitchers are filling up the zone and the defense has played really well.”

 St. Aloysius 3, Central Private 2

Derek Dolan led off the top of the 10th inning with a solo home run to lift St. Aloysius (5-5) over Central Private (9-7).

George Tzotzolas, Matthew Foley and Connor Smith all had two hits apiece for St. Al, which scored twice in the fifth inning to take a 2-1 lead, but allowed Central Private to tie it in the sixth on an RBI double by Ryan Bowman.

Drake Dorbeck didn’t allow a run despite issuing five walks in 31⁄3 innings of relief, and got the win. Ben Welp started and allowed two runs in 51⁄3 innings. Welp walked three batters and struck out four.

St. Al will return to action Tuesday in its division opener at Bogue Chitto. A home game scheduled for today against Tri-County Academy has been canceled.