NATCHEZ &045; You could see it in Daniel Dunaway’s smile &045; Lee Fairbanks’, too, for that matter &045; the All-Star season for the Natchez 11-year-olds may be brief this summer as far as the number of games.

But not on excitement.

With Dunaway on the mound and Fairbanks delivering a pivotal double in the team’s last at-bat, Natchez pushed a run across in the last of the seventh to take a 3-2 win over Petal as the Dixie Youth state tournament narrowed down to four teams Monday night.

Yet with the win, Natchez is the only team without a loss.

And that’s something to smile about.

&uot;If it gets any better than this, I can’t take it,&uot; Natchez head coach Boo Brumfield said. &uot;We can’t leave Daniel Dunaway out. When he comes to the ball park smiling, you know where to put him. He was awesome. You can’t get any better. I’m going to sleep on this tonight and see who we’re going to play tomorrow.&uot;

That may be hard for everyone associated with either team following what may have been the most well-played game so far in the tournament. Each side traded big plays to stay tied up at two before Natchez got a rally in the bottom half of its lineup in its final at-bat in the seventh.

Fairbanks started it off when he doubled to right center, and he moved to third on a sacrifice bunt from Andrew Tyra. Tanner Martin put another bunt down, but he reached base when no one was covering first base.

Andrew Moroney then lined a ground ball to first base, but Brumfield held Fairbanks at first and Moroney reached safely to load the bases. Dunaway then lined a shot to shortstop Caleb Dickey, who threw home for the force but catcher Hayden Lott couldn’t come up with the ball before Fairbanks slid in safely.

But don’t think Fairbanks was nervous before his at-bat. Well, he may have been, but Brumfield and first-base coach Chris Dunaway spent a couple minutes on each side of him before his at-bat.

And the speedy little Fairbanks delivered at the plate and slid in to score the winning run.

&uot;The first thing I thought was I thought I was out (at the plate),&uot; Fairbanks said. &uot;I accidentally kicked the ball out of his glove when I slid home. That’s what they said. (The double) felt good &045; that’s all I can say about it.&uot;

Brumfield held Fairbanks on the shot by Moroney that went straight to Trevor Williams at first, a play Williams could have come up throwing to the plate quickly. Williams tried to tag out Martin heading to second but just missed by inches.

&uot;We just wanted Lee to get up to the plate, really crowd it &045; he’s a little guy &045; so he could get a walk,&uot; Brumfield said. &uot;That was the bottom three in the lineup. I told him, ‘You get on base, we’ll move you around.’ It worked out.

&uot;We got him to third, and I told him don’t leave the base until the ball leaves the infield. I made him stay. I thought he tagged (Martin) out, but they said he didn’t. Then we got the bases loaded, and it worked out for the best.&uot;

It was a tough way to lose for Petal, who had a solid game on defense to keep Natchez from breaking the game open and made nice plays in the final inning. Petal turned two doubles plays in the contest and came up with a huge play in the second that ended the inning.

&uot;The ball didn’t bounce our way tonight,&uot; Petal head coach Wes Brewer said. &uot;(The throw

home) was a little low and hard to handle. We could have well won it as we did lose it. That was two good ball teams. We’ll bounce back. We may have a chance to see them again.&uot;

Petal struggled against Dunaway as the right-hander finished the game with 10 strikeouts and walking three. Petal tied the game up in the fifth when Williams reached on an error and later scored on a wild pitch, and Brumfield came to the mound in the fifth to talk things over with Dunaway.

&uot;I was just throwing a little control pitch and a fast pitch,&uot; Dunaway said. &uot;One of my friends (Williams) was on that team, and I wanted to face him.&uot;

Petal had only three hits in the contest, and slugger Blaze Napier &045; who hit a grand slam Sunday and drove in seven runs &045; was held hitless in two at-bats.

&uot;The difference in the ball game (Napier) quiet,&uot; Brumfield said. &uot;Daniel kept him at bay. His dad wanted to get him a little early, and I went to get him. He said, ‘I’m beating them,’ and I said, ‘Against your dad’s protests, I’ll leave you out here one more batter.’ He struck out the next guy.&uot;

Natchez got two runs in the second when Avery Middleton singled in Daniel Huffines and Scott Turner, but Lott threw out Middleton at second to end the inning with Natchez leading 2-1.

Petal had a chance in the third to take the lead when Tyler Graves singled to center with runners on first and second and two outs.

But Ty Hughes stopped at third and Turner threw to Christopher Perry at short to tag out Hunter Linton &045; who had rounded second heading for third &045; to end the inning.

&uot;You put pressure on these kids, and it’s hard to handle,&uot; Brewer said. &uot;I’m sure both teams are like that. We had a couple of miscues that could have put us ahead. It was a good game, but it didn’t fall our way.&uot;