The amazing run by the Mississippi all-Stars came to a crushing end Wednesday night.

Mississippi took a 6-2 lead over North Carolina – a team which defeated Mississippi 10-0 on Monday night – into the fifth inning before falling apart. Natchez surrendered two runs in the fifth, one in the sixth and four in the seventh to lose to North Carolina, 10-6.

&uot;We made some mistakes,&uot; said coach Tim Foster. &uot;When you play against a team like that, you can’t give up many mistakes.&uot;

Timmy Foster pitched six strong innings before being pulled in the seventh inning for Benji Maher.

&uot;Timmy had thrown a lot of pitches by then,&uot; Foster said, adding that the pitcher wanted to stay in the game. &uot;To me, it wasn’t worth it to hurt a kid.&uot;

After North Carolina took a 1-0 lead in the second inning, Mississippi go things going. Chris Seeger laid down a bunt down the third base line to start the frame. Timmy Foster then smacked a double to move Seeger to third.

Benji Maher’s single drove in Seeger. Foster then scored on a wild pitch to give Natchez the lead.

After Maher stole second base, micheal Chatman hit a double to knock him in. C.J. Wright’s two-bagger drove in Chatman, giving Natchez a 4-1 advantage. North Carolina cut the lead to 6-4 in the top of the sixth and had the bases loaded with two outs. But Foster shut the door.

Then in the seventh, North Carolina tallied six runs to take the 10-6 lead. Mississippi put a runner on third with one out in the seventh, but that’s as close as it got.

&uot;These kids never gave up. They played it down to the very last out,&uot; Foster said. &uot;They never laid down. It’s a fine group of boys. One day, they’ll make fine ballplayers for schools.&uot;