NATCHEZ &045; This game had all the excitement the first two lacked.

Wednesday’s decisive Game 3 of the Natchez Dixie Youth Coach Pitch City All-Star Series was close most of the way, something that certainly couldn’t have been said about the first two games of the series Tuesday, in which the Natchez Americans won the first 17-2 and the Natchez Nationals took the second 23-8.

No, Wednesday was different, if for no other reason than the close score, a 15-9 win for the Nationals

&uot;It was a lot better than the first two,&uot; Nationals coach Billy Ray Farmer said. &uot;This is my third year in the All-Star series and that’s the first time we’ve played a game 3.&uot;

A big part of that was the defense both teams played. There were only three errors between the two clubs and some spectacular plays, particularly a throw to home in the third inning that prevented the Nationals’ Cameron Farmer from scoring and a diving catch on a pop fly to shortstop by the Nationals’ Quinn Logan that robbed the Americans’ Benjamin Hewitt of a hit in the fourth. In the first two games, both teams committed a number of errors and had serious defensive troubles.

&uot;We made some defensive changes coming into this game and played a lot better,&uot; Farmer said. &uot;Last night there were a lot of errors, but tonight was good for both teams.&uot;

The Americans opened the game with two runs in the first. Edwin Byrne singled, only to get out when Philip Tyra reached on a fielder’s choice. Matthew Simmons singled, putting runners on for Hewitt, who knocked Tyra and Simmons in with a single.

The Nationals came back to tie the game with two runs of their own as Farmer doubled to lead off and scored when Trey Fleming reached on a fielder’s choice when Landon Seyfarth was put out at second. Fleming scored on Mark Iles’ double.

American left fielder Pete Guedon singled in the second, moved over on Skeeter Myles’ single and both moved up on a throwing error. Guedon scored when Jacob Jenkins ground out and Mules came home on Chisum Mardis’ single.

Neither team scored in the third and the Americans were held without a run in the fourth. The Nationals took advantage, scoring four runs in the fourth. Logan doubled to left and scored on Bradley Jones’ double. Jones scored on Austin Waite’s double. Waite moved to third on Kenneth Jordan’s singled, and both came in to score on James Coley’s triple.

The Americans answered with two runs in the fifth. Myles singled and later scored from third on Jardarius Anderson’s bunt single. Kolbi Robinson tripled to left, setting up a play at the plate. Anderson crashed into Nationals catcher Bradley Jones, jarring the ball loose as he scored to bring his team within two runs at 8-6.

The Nationals erased any doubts about their hitting ability in the fifth, scoring six runs. Andrew Beesley led off with the first of three consecutive singles. Jeremy Myles and Farmer loaded the bases. Beesley scored on Seyfarth’s ground out and Myles and Farmer scored when Fleming tripled. Fleming came in on Logan’s single and Logan later scored on an error. Mark Iles singled and came in on Waites’ single.

&uot;We just finally outhit them,&uot; Farmer said. &uot;We had started hitting well in the second game last night and we got going there in the late innings tonight.&uot;

But the Americans weren’t quite done yet. Down 15-6, Tyra started a rally with a double to left. He scored on Doyles’ ground out, the second out of the inning. Hewitt and Givens singled. Hewitt came in on Christian Jenkins’ single. Guedon doubled but was caught at third before Jenkins could score, making the final 15-9.

&uot;They have some real strong hitters,&uot; Americans coach Ben Hewitt said. &uot;We started to come back in the end, but it didn’t happen. But everybody’s walking away feeling good. That was one of the best games I’ve seen in All-Stars. I hope we both do that well in Brookhaven.&uot;

Both teams will play in the North Sub-District Tournament at Brookhaven at 6 p.m. today: the Americans against Copiah and the Nationals against Brookhaven.