MAGNOLIA &045; After a rocky first inning, in which the South Pike’s J. Warren hit a grand slam after an error allowed South Pike’s inning to continue, the Natchez defense settled down behind pitcher Brandon Smith and the Bulldogs’ offense pulled through to get an 11-4 win Tuesday.

Smith pitched a complete game and allowed no runs after the first inning, helping get Natchez (4-4) the win. Smith had eight strikeouts.

&uot;After the first inning, our pitcher settled down and kept them off balance the rest of the night,&uot; Natchez head coach Charlie Williams said. &uot;He had a good outing in his first game before Brookhaven knocked him around a little, but he’s 2-1 for us. We’re not deep in pitching, but we don’t make errors in the field like we used to, so if our pitchers throw strikes we can be successful.&uot;

The Bulldogs got three in the first and another run in the second to tie the game. In the fourth inning, Natchez took the lead after Edward Johnson got on base on an error. Smith bunted in an attempt to sacrifice Johnson to second, but several errors by South Pike resulted in both players getting home safely.

Desmond Smoot helped put the crowning touch on the win with a two-run home run in the fifth.

&uot;Desmond Smoot really came through for us, but the game was out of hand at that time,&uot; Williams said.

WCCA 25, Lamar Christian 0

WOODVILLE &045; Wilkinson County Christian Academy only took three innings to take out Lamar Christian.

The Rams scored 13 in the first inning and 12 in the second to end the game after just three innings.

Every player for WCCA had at least one hit in the game. Taylor Fontenot had three runs batted in for the Rams and Collin Dor and Jack Maxwell each had two.

Dor pitched two innings of shutout ball and struck out five of the six batters he faced.

&uot;For Lamar Christian, this is the first year to have a baseball team,&uot; WCCA head coach Ray Olive said. &uot;They’re real young, and they have some kids who haven’t played before. I hate the score the way it was, but I admire them for hanging in there and playing the game. Things are only going to get better for them, so we’ll watch out for them in another year or so.&uot;

Huntington 14, Centreville 11

CENTREVILLE &045; Both teams bats were’ lively as Huntington held on for the win over Centreville in a high-scoring affair.

The Hounds’ Trey Brashier came in to close out the game on a night when starter Jacob Bonnette struggled to get outs. Brashier faced five batters and got struck out two to get the save and help his team to the win.

Both teams pounded the ball in the game, racking up 14 hits each and plenty of scoring. Huntington attempted three squeeze plays in the game that failed or it might not have even been a close game.

Five Hounds had multi-hit games, led by a 3-for-6 effort from Bonnette. Four Tigers got at least two hits, led by Chris Landry, who had two doubles.