NATCHEZ &045; It took a while to get warmed up, but the Natchez 12 All-Stars did it.

Though they didn’t do much through the first 3 1/2 inings of play, but the Natchez 12s finally got their bats going and pulled away from the Ferriday 12s for a 7-1 win in a practice game for the teams Tuesday night at Carroll-Jones Field.

The game was Ferriday’s final practice game before starting the Sub-District Minor League Tournament in Jonesville Saturday.

&uot;We hit better tonight than we did last night, but our fielding came apart,&uot; Ferriday head coach Travis Brown said. &uot;We just have to go practice and get ready for Saturday.&uot;

Natchez looked strong, racking up 10 hits, though the team struggled to score until the fourth inning.

&uot;They’re looking pretty good,&uot; Natchez head coach Billy Calcote said. &uot;These practice games help out a lot better than just practice.&uot;

Ferriday started the scoring off when Barrett Young reached on a fielder’s choice after Nick Blake led off with a single. Young moved to third on Jake Brown’s single and scored on Tyler Trant’s double. Three of Ferriday’s four hits in the game came in the first inning.

Natchez tied things up in the bottom of the inning when Semmes White reached and went to second on an error, stole third base and scored on a past ball.

Neither team scored in the second or third innings, though Natchez got three hits in the second. In that inning, Trevon Chatman led off with a single but was tagged out trying to steal second. Daniel Guedon singled and moved to second on Casey Calcote’s single.

Garrett Smith hit a ball towards the shortstop that hit Calcote for the third out before Guedon could score, ending the inning without a run.

Natchez got things rolling in the fourth with four consecutive hits. Brandon Sanders singled and moved up on Tyler Morrison’s single. Both scored on Givonni Dent’s second double of the game. Dent moved to third on a passed ball and came in on Adam Kaiser’s single to right field.

&uot;We hit the ball good tonight,&uot; Billy Calcote said. &uot;They started a little sluggish but came on in the late innings.&uot;

Errors plagued Ferriday’s defense in the fifth inning, as Natchez outfielder Shiloh Atkins reached on an error and scored on Smith’s double. Smith scored when James Moffett singled and moved to second on an error and Moffett eventually scored on White’s sacrifice fly.

Ferriday could not score in the top of the sixth.

&uot;We stayed with them through the fourth inning, but then we fell apart,&uot; Travis Brown said. &uot;We counted eight outs we should have had in the fourth and six outs we should have had in the fifth but didn’t get. It was just basic throws and catches we should have had.&uot;

Ferriday sent just two batters over the minimum and had only three baserunners in the final five innings.

Ferriday’s Travis Brown said he has his players situated where they will be for Saturday’s opener at the tournament. The team opens the tournament at 6 p.m. Saturday against Vidalia.