NATCHEZ &045; There’s even drama to be found in winning ugly.

Just when you thought the start couldn’t have been any worse and nothing was really going right for the Adams Christian Rebels in the middle innings, all it took was one swing of the bat from Cole Bradford to help everyone forget about a mistake here, a bad break there and anything else that was painful to watch.

Bradford launched a walk-off three-run homer in the last of the seventh to give the Rebels a 10-8 win over Oak Forest Friday.

&uot;I told them it was one of the ugliest wins I’ve ever gotten,&uot; Adams head coach Gill Morris said. &uot;We swung the bats better, but I’ll tell you what &045; they swung it a lot better. They came out real aggressive, and it kind of shocked us, I’m sure. I told the kids I’m proud of them for not quitting, which we didn’t. We kept fighting hard and clawing back.&uot;

The shot at the end helped erase many of the bad memories of errors and Oak Forest’s bats doing the damage at the plate early off Adams Christian starter Timmy Foster, who got it together late and pitched better.

The Yellow Jackets, who led 5-1 at one point, took an 8-7 lead heading into the last inning when Bradford jumped on a 2-1 fastball from J.C. Thompson with Clay Floyd and Ray Simpson on base with one out and put it over the fence in left for the win.

&uot;Just a base hit, really,&uot; Bradford said of his intentions at the plate. &uot;I was just trying to move the runners up. I don’t really know (what happened early). They had two good hit-and-runs. They jumped on us early.&uot;

The shot put the dagger in the Yellow Jackets, who were trying to gain redemption against the Rebels after losing to AC 7-3 last week at the Copiah tournament. The Jackets had an error on a slow grounder to second off the bat of Simpson that had double-play potential and could have ended the game.

Instead the Rebels had new life, and Bradford took full advantage.

&uot;ACCS knows how to win,&uot; Oak Forest head coach Joe Weaver said. &uot;They’ve been there, done that and know how to win. We’re learning how to win and proved that tonight. We had a lead in the seventh and couldn’t hold on to it. It was a fastball up in the zone. You kind of expect that out of a team like (ACCS). They’ll take advantage of it.&uot;

The homer spoiled a game for the Jackets where they executed well at the plate and got solid licks off Foster, especially in the early innings. Credit the Rebels for fighting back after the 5-1 deficit to tie the score at 6-6, but the Jackets got two in the sixth to get the lead back.

John Carl Thompson scored on a throwing error, and Shane Holland singled in J. Glass for the two-run lead.

&uot;We made some good pitches, and every time we got it up they hit it,&uot; Morris said. &uot;I’m just glad to get this one. I was impressed with their hitters. They had a couple of hit-and-runs, and hopefully our kids will take note of that. They did a good job of running the bases. We’re just lucky to win it &045; that’s all there is to it.&uot;

Foster had better control in the latter innings and got out of a jam in the seventh after giving up two singles to Lyle Newell and Josh Miller with one out. That sent up the top of the order, and Foster got two strikeouts to get out of the inning.

The Rebels finished the game with five errors behind Foster, including one in the fourth that allowed Richie Field to reach base and eventually score. But Foster got out of that with a strikeout as the Jackets left a runner stranded at second.

&uot;We’ve been working hard on how to hit, using the whole field and hitting the other way,&uot; Weaver said. &uot;Timmy did a good job of pitching to our weaknesses. I thought Timmy pitched better later in the game than earlier in the game. I thought Timmy pitched Richie real well tonight. Timmy battled all night.&uot;

The Yellow Jackets scored three in the first inning thanks to run-scoring singles from Holland and Ross Guidry to take the and tacked on one in each of the next three innings. But Foster continued to make adjustments and picked up his fastball a bit as the game went on.

The Rebels’ bats picked up the slack with one in the first, three in the third and two in the fourth. Dustin Case hit a solo homer in the fourth, and David Trisler did the same in the sixth.