KOSCIUSKO &045; This time around Laurel was like everyone else at the state tournament.

It was prepared for Natchez.

Laurel rode the arm of its hard-throwing left-hander Wednesday to take a 11-0 win in five innings over the Natchez 14-year-old All-Stars and send them home from the state tournament. Natchez came away last year as state champs after beating Laurel en route to the title.

This time the Laurel threw a better pitcher and advanced toward a shot at the state tournament.

&uot;They had about six different players,&uot; Natchez head coach William Barnes said.&160;&uot;The kids played hard. We finished in the top five in the state. They’re all down, and it’s really affected them pretty good. But we’re going for pizza and to have fun. Maybe that will ease the pain a little bit.&uot;

Laurel’s top left-hander blanked Natchez with a no-hitter while walking three batters. He struck out 14 of the 17 batters he faced, and only three Natchez batters actually made contact at the plate.

Luke Brumfield, Matt Barnes and Jesse Morrison each put the put the bat on the ball. Ross Smith walked and made it to second, and Morrison reached on a walk in the fifth but was caught stealing.

&uot;In the years we’ve been playing, we’ve seen one left-handed pitcher &045; and he was a junk pitcher,&uot; William Barnes said.&160;&uot;This guy threw it hard and had a good breaking ball. It hurts my feelings and all, but he was a good pitcher. That’s the first time we’ve seen a left-handed pitcher all year, even in some of the tournaments where we took a few of the kids to play.&uot;

Laurel pecked away at the plate early against Natchez starter Luke Brumfield, who threw four innings before giving way to relievers Matt Barnes, Brian Sanderson and Joseph McDonough.

Laurel scored two unearned runs in the first and picked up four runs in the third, three in the fourth and two in the fifth for the 11-run lead.

Natchez finished the game with six errors, while its pitchers gave up just five hits.

&uot;We made some errors in that first inning, and it got us on our heels a little bit,&uot; William Barnes said.&160;&uot;We just came out flat. We expected to do well, but we knew teams were going to pitch their No. 1s against us. When you face a No. 1, you can’t come out flat.&uot;