BROOKHAVEN &045; All it took to get the Natchez Rebel League All-Stars fired up to state their sub-district play was a little pep talk from head coach Tom Middleton.

For inspiration, all Middleton had to do was pick up Saturday’s paper.

In it was details of Vidalia’s eight-run sixth inning to claim an 8-7 win over Catahoula in the opening round of its sub-district tournament. The moral of the story was anything can happen at any time, and the Rebel League took it to heart by claiming a wild 11-10 win over the Confederate League Saturday.

&uot;I told you I thought we started out like we did last time,&uot; Middleton said. &uot;They’re really coming together. They got a big boost of confidence today, and they played with a lot of heart. They never gave up. Even when we fell four runs down, they never quit.&uot;

It was a wild one between the two Natchez teams, a game that went the Confederate League’s way last week in the city All-Star championship game. But this time the Rebel League came from behind after trailing 8-4 to take the lead.

And it went down to the wire as much as you could imagine &045; the Confederate League loaded the bases in the bottom of the sixth before Avery Middleton got the last out on a strikeout on three straight pitches to end the game.

&uot;It was a pretty wild game,&uot; Tom Middleton said. &uot;I’m just glad we came out on top. I’m so tired I can’t remember a lot of things that happened. They showed a lot of character and didn’t get down.&uot;

The Rebel League trailed 8-4 heading into the fourth when it scored four runs in the fourth and three in the fifth. The three in the fifth were pivotal as it put the lead at 11-8 heading into the bottom half.

In the fifth Datarrius Matthews led off with a single and moved up on a Christopher Perry single with two outs. Avery Middleton then reached on an error on a ball hit back to the pitcher that scored both Matthews and Perry, and Johnny Smith singled in Avery Middleton the 11-8 lead.