Gators eliminated by Center Hill in Class 6A baseball playoffs

Published 10:06 pm Saturday, April 27, 2024

The Center Hill Mustangs were through horsing around with Vicksburg High.

Center Hill scored multiple runs in every inning, and pitchers Mac Atkins and Cooper McCool combined on a no-hitter to beat Vicksburg 15-0 on Saturday and finish a sweep of their first-round MHSAA Class 6A baseball playoff series.

Center Hill (18-9) won its seventh consecutive game and advanced to face Grenada in the second round next week.

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Vicksburg (7-18) did not score a run in the series, although it was competitive in a 10-0 loss in Game 1. The opener was scoreless until the third inning, but Center Hill made sure that wasn’t going to happen again.

Ayden Rodgers led off the game with a single and Avery Rodgers followed with a walk. Ayden Rodgers scored the first run on a wild pitch, his brother came in on a single by Houston Green, and the Mustangs were off and running. They added four more runs in the first inning on a pair of errors to take a 6-0 lead, then scored two more in both the second and third.

An RBI double by Deshann Hannah was part of a five-run fourth inning that brought the game to an early end via the mercy rule.

Kyle Erwin finished 2-for-3 with two RBIs and three runs scored for Center Hill, and Green had two hits and scored two runs.

Vicksburg drew three walks but did not have a hit against Atkins and McCool. Atkins pitched three innings and had six strikeouts, and then McCool finished up with one strikeout in the fourth inning.