Gators lose second in a row on seventh-inning rally
Published 9:22 am Thursday, March 14, 2024
Groundhog Day was in early February, but the Vicksburg Gators lived a baseball version of it in the middle of March.
Manchester Academy scored two runs on double steals in the top of the seventh inning and beat Vicksburg 6-5 on Wednesday.
It was the second game in a row the Gators rallied to take the lead in the bottom of the sixth inning, only to give up two runs in the top of the seventh and lose. St. Aloysius did the same thing Tuesday to beat them 9-8.
Against Manchester, the Gators entered the bottom of the sixth trailing 4-2. An error allowed one run to score, then Chris Green hit an RBI single and scored on a double by Kealon Bass to put them ahead 5-4.
In the seventh, however, Cole Estes singled and Will Ketchum was hit by a pitch. Estes advanced to third on an error and scored on a double steal that also moved Ketchum to second. Ketchum later scored on another double steal to give the Mavericks a 6-5 lead.
Vicksburg was retired in order in the bottom of the seventh.
Green finished 3-for-3 with one RBI and one run scored for Vicksburg, and Bass was 2-for-4 with two RBIs. Peyton Calvin singled and scored two runs.
Dean Tyson singled twice, walked twice, and had one RBI and one run scored for Manchester (13-1), which has beaten Vicksburg three times this season.
Estes was 2-for-3 with two runs scored. He also pitched five innings and allowed two runs while striking out three.
Vicksburg (3-10) lost its sixth consecutive game as it reached the unofficial halfway point of the season. It’ll return to the field Tuesday, March 19, when it hosts Ridgeland in the MHSAA Region 2-6A opener at 7 p.m.