NATCHEZ — With the 11- and 12-year-old Natchez Dixie Youth O-Zone League coming to a close, Sports Center coach Cole Brown wanted his 12-year-olds to have the opportunity to take the mound.

In a Tuesday night contest against Rolling River, Ayden Rojo, Jasin Wesberry, Dray Geoghegan and L.J. Minor each pitched at least an inning in an 11-1 victory. The Sports Center pitchers combined for seven strikeouts, one hit and one run allowed in the win.

Before the win, Sports Center had already clinched the league, sporting a 13-3 record after the Rolling River victory.

“The thing was we didn’t want to just win the league, but we wanted to win it with class, and that’s what we’re most proud of,” Brown said. “I think this team embodies what Dixie Youth baseball is all about, and that’s integrity, work ethic and the ability to never give up through the season.”

Sports Center was in a much tighter battle than the scoreboard entailed, as the team scored one run in the first and second — passed ball and throwing errors allowed Minor and Mason Waggoner to score. Up 2-0, Rojo, who started the game, allowed a triple to Rolling River’s Kendall Washington. With two outs in the second inning, Washington baited Geoghegan to throw back to third before he took off and slid in safely to bring Rolling River within one.

Sports Center created separation in the third, however. Minor scored on an error, Geoghegan on a Wesberry RBI double, Wesberry scored on a Malcolm Bouldin sacrifice fly, Rojo scored on an error, Mike Barnes was walked in and Waggoner scored on a balk, giving Sports Center an 8-1 lead after three innings played.

Sports Center, a team that overcame a 10-1 deficit in the fourth inning to come back and win earlier in the season, has made a habit of late offensive explosions.

“We’re a late second half type of team, and they just don’t seem to get it going until the later innings,” Brown said.

Wesberry, who was the league’s MVP with seven home runs this season, had a triple in the fourth inning before Bouldin knocked him in with an RBI triple.

Before Minor ended the game with a strikeout, Sports Center got an unconventional strike ‘em out, throw ‘em out in the fifth inning. After Wesberry dropped the ball on the strikeout, he threw down to Geoghegan at first, who threw back to home to tag out a runner trying to steal, capping the season off with a remarkable double play.