Natchez 11s win sub-district tournament

By Patrick Jones | The Natchez Democrat

Published Thursday, July 2, 2009

BROOKHAVEN — The Natchez 11-year-old All-Stars needed to defeat Wesson twice to win the District 6 Sub-district Tournament championship and they did so in impressive fashion.

Natchez disposed of Wesson in Game 1 14-3 in five innings by way of the 10-run rule to set up a winner-take-all championship game. And Natchez didn’t let up at all in that game in taking a 10-1 victory to win the tournament championship.

Next up for the Natchez 11-year-old All-Star team is a showdown with McComb in the district tournament, which is a best-of-three series. Game 1 will take place at Carroll-Jones Field at 7 p.m. Friday. Game 2 will be in McComb next Monday.

In the first game, Natchez took advantage of a pitching change by Wesson after scoring just one run in the first three innings. Natchez scored seven runs in the top of the fourth inning and six in the top of the fifth.

“We started hitting the ball. They had someone who was throwing slow. It was working for half an inning,” Natchez coach Jeff Webb said. “Second inning, they were coming around and hitting their groove. When they changed pitchers and had someone who threw at regular speed, we were killing it.”

Wesson starting pitcher Matthew Burns went the first two innings and allowed one run in the top of the first inning. After the third inning, Natchez put the game away thanks to three home runs.

Christopher White hit a three-run home run in the top of the fourth inning as the visiting team in the first game jumped out to an 8-0 lead. Wesson would respond with three runs in the bottom of the fourth thanks to an RBI double by Tyler McLeod, who went 2-for-2, and RBI singles by Burns and Landon Lewis.

Will Moffett hit a two-run blast and was followed by a solo home run by Luke Thomas in the top of the fifth. Moffett and Thomas each went 2-for-3, and Tyler Wilson was 2-for-2 for Natchez in Game 1.

“They were hitting the ball hard,” Webb said.

The second game was more of the same for Natchez, which ended up as the home team after winning the coin flip — plenty of offense as well as outstanding play from its defense, which committed no errors in both games.

White had an RBI triple as Natchez scored four runs in the bottom of the first inning. Wesson got a solo home run from Burns, who was the losing pitcher in both games.

Natchez put the game away by scoring four runs in the bottom of the third inning. The big hits were a leadoff home run by White and a two-run triple by Brody Cole.

“They stayed in the groove and picked up where they left off in the first game,” Webb said.

Andrew Beesley had a big game for Natchez at the plate and in the field. He went 3-for-3 with a double in the nightcap. White and Cole both went 2-for-3 and Moffett was 2-for-3 with a double.

“This was the best stretch of three games I’ve seen them play,” Webb said. “We played good defensively both games. We had some super plays from our shortstop, Andrew Beesley, and our second baseman, Brody Cole. They had the middle covered. They’re two of the smallest players on the team, but they’re two of the toughest.”

Thomas was the winning pitcher for Natchez in the clincher as he struck out two and walked two in four innings. Wesson had just three hits in the game, but two went for extra bases. In addition to Burns’ home run, Eric Rhymes had a double.