PREP BASEBALL ROUNDUP: Vikings rip Madison Central; Vicksburg and St. Al split at spring break tournament

Published 3:20 pm Sunday, March 10, 2019

Madison Central’s baseball team has caused Warren Central a lot of grief over the years. For one day, at least, the tables were turned.

Caleb Sterling hit two home runs, Alan Kivett and Sean Daily also went deep, and Warren Central blasted Madison Central 19-7 on Saturday.

The Vikings (8-3) snapped a four-game losing streak against the Jaguars (5-1) — which included a two-game sweep in last year’s Class 6A playoffs — and beat them for just the third time in 27 meetings since 2008. The 19 runs Warren Central scored were as many as it had had in its last six games against Madison Central combined.

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“It was fun to finally play like I know we are capable of. Hopefully it woke the sleeping monster,” Warren Central coach Conner Douglas said. “It’s always surprising to beat any quality team like that, but it just shows how dangerous of a team we can be. Especially when we eliminate the freebies.”

Warren Central handed out plenty of “freebies” on Saturday — its pitchers walked eight batters, hit three others, and the team committed two errors — but overcame it with brute force at the plate.

The Vikings battered Madison for 18 hits, 10 of which went for extra bases. Sterling finished 4-for-6 with two home runs, two doubles, six RBIs and four runs scored. Hank Holdiness was 3-for-5 with two RBIs, while Vantrel Reed went 3-for-4 with a double, two RBIs and three runs scored.

Kivett and Shane Lewis scored three runs apiece. Every starter had at least one hit, eight of the nine scored at least one run, and the Vikings scored in all but one inning.

Hunter Hines and Peyton Rea homered for Madison Central.

“We even had a lot of loud outs,” Douglas said, referring to hard hit balls that did not result in hits.

Warren Central capped a busy and successful week with the victory. It went 4-1 while playing five games in four days. Three of those were region wins over Provine, and the Vikings outscored their opponents 74-10 in the five games.

They’ll head to the Coast later this week to play four games in three days — beginning Thursday at Biloxi — in the Battle at the Beach spring break tournament.

Vicksburg 14, Canton 5
Terrance Johnson went 2-for-4 with a home run, two RBIs and two runs scored, Rashad McCroy hit an inside-the-park home run, and Vicksburg High shook off a pair of region losses by beating Canton in the Battle on the River spring break tournament Saturday at Sports Force Parks on the Mississippi.

The Gators (3-2) were swept by region rival Ridgeland in two games last week, but bounced back nicely against Canton. Laurence Sullivan and Wayllon Ramo each had RBI singles in the second inning as the Gators jumped out to a 5-0 lead.

McCroy and Johnson both hit inside-the-park home runs during an eight-run rally in the fourth inning that put the game out of reach.

The Gators finished with 14 hits. Kendrick Bershell was 3-for-3, Sullivan had two hits, and Ty’Ron Moore tripled and scored two runs.

Vicksburg will play twice on Monday in the Battle on the River tournament. It faces West Bolivar at 10 a.m. and Greenville at 3:15 p.m.

Bayou Academy 7, St. Aloysius 4
The St. Aloysius Flashes had enough chances to beat Bayou Academy on Saturday, but didn’t do enough with them.

The Flashes left eight runners on base in five innings, including three in the last inning, as it lost to Bayou in the Battle on the River tournament at Sports Force Parks on the Mississippi.

Kellar Otts doubled twice, drove in three runs and scored two for Bayou. He hit a two-run double in the top of the fifth inning and scored on a single by Zach Willingham to give the Colts a 7-2 lead.

St. Al rallied and got two runs back in the bottom of the fifth on a pair of bases loaded walks. Bayou reliever Parker Harris got a strikeout to end the game, however. The tournament games are played on a time limit.

St. Al (2-2) had a two-game winning streak snapped. It had taken a pair from crosstown District 3-AAA rival Porter’s Chapel Academy, 12-0 and 11-6, on Thursday and Friday.

The Flashes will play Clinton Christian Monday at 5 p.m. in the Battle on the River tournament at Sports Force Parks in Vicksburg.