A cold night in Natchez did little to cool off top-ranked Parklane as the Pioneers used an outstanding pitching performance from Mississippi State signee Les Dykes to race out to an 8-1 win over ACCS in the Rebels’ home opener on Monday.

Dykes, considered by many to be the top prospect in the state, struck out 10 and allowed no runs on just two hits in four innings of work.

The 6-5 lefty was also a factor at the plate, collecting three hits in three at bats.

&uot;He (Dykes) was everything I heard he was,&uot; ACCS head coach Gill Morris said. &uot;Even so, I thought we took a lot of strikes and didn’t put enough pressure on him.&uot;

The defending state champions picked up the first run of the evening when Dykes started a two-out rally with a double to center in the top of the first inning. Joey Lundley followed with a RBI single to make it 1-0. Morris’ Rebels threatened to tie the score in the bottom half of the second when Russ Marks banged out an infield single and Christopher Rayborn reached on an error. But faced with runners at second and third and no outs, Dykes collected three-consecutive strikeouts to end the threat.

&uot;We really had a chance to get something positive going in the second, but we watched three-straight strike threes, and you can’t sit there with your bat on your shoulder against a pitcher of that caliber,&uot; Morris said.

Russ Marks, Chris Rayborn and Mardis led the Rebel offense with one hit each. Dykes collected the win, while Marks was stuck with the loss.

&uot;I thought Russ pitched a pretty good game, and we played solid defense,&uot; Morris said. &uot;The difference was Parklane was aggressive at the plate, and we were not.&uot;

The Rebels will try to get back on the winning track today as they travel to face Porter’s Chapel. The JV will get things started at 5 p.m. with the first pitch of the varsity contest slated for 7 p.m.

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