NATCHEZ &8212; Timmy Foster did just what he&8217;s been taught to do when things went bad Tuesday night.

He just tried to stay even &8212; no low points, no high moments. He had to stay calm.

He had just walked two batters.

For Foster and the way he&8217;s been throwing this season, that&8217;s cause enough for alarm. But his two walks in the seventh inning against Riverfield were of little consolation in the two-hitter he tossed while striking out 13 batters. He was still in control, just like he&8217;s been in his five decisions so far this season &8212; all of them wins &8212; as Adams Christian closed out an 8-0 win.

&8220;I think I got a little tired &8212; I threw 93 pitches,&8221; said Foster, who walked only three for the game and

had a streak of 11 straight batters retired. &8220;That&8217;s about my average. I try to just calm myself down and get back in the groove. When I threw against Presbyterian Christian, it wasn&8217;t a bad outing but I wasn&8217;t hitting my spots as I usually do. But my defense made plays.&8221;

The two walks were uncommon for a right-hander that&8217;s been using a fastball, curveball and occasional changeup to raise the frustration level among MPSA batters this season. Foster gave up a single to Chris Hales in the seventh and walked two of three batters &8212; both on four pitches &8212; to give the Raiders a runner in scoring position for the first time.

But like Foster did to so many batters up until that point, he got the next batter to look at a third strike to end the game.

&8220;His curve and change &8212; all three of his pitches have been working,&8221; Adams head coach Ron Rushing said. &8220;And I think he&8217;s picked up some velocity, too. The thing about Timmy is he can throw any pitch at any time. We just try to mix it up and keep them guessing.

&8220;He probably got a little tired and got a little stiff on the bench (in the sixth). He had to relax a little bit. But he keeps the same mindset the whole time whether things are going great or going bad. I think he learned that from Coach (Gill) Morris.&8221;

Up until then, Foster was straight dealing by combining his pitches and either getting strikeouts or groundouts in the infield. He nearly came away with no hits allowed through six had Brian Sanderson pulled off a diving grab in shallow left on a ball off the bat of Logan Moore.

But Moore was forced out at second on the next play. Corbin Cater reached base on a walk in the next inning, but the Rebels turned two when Hunter Adcock lined out to Luke Brumfield at short and Brumfield threw to first to get Cater off the bag.

&8220;He did a good job, and right now we can&8217;t hit &8212; and that&8217;s a bad combination,&8221; Riverfield head coach Britton Leggett said. &8220;We&8217;ve been struggling at the plate for the better part of the year. We&8217;re just young, and he ain&8217;t. There&8217;s probably not a problem at the plate that we don&8217;t have.&8221;

Moore had one of two shots out of the infield for the Raiders up until that seventh inning. He never got three balls deep in the count over the next four innings and got all but five outs in those four innings on strikeouts.

From there, the Rebels did their part at the plate. A 3-0 lead after one turned into a 7-0 lead until they scored in the sixth.

&8220;I had been working in the bullpen (earlier), and I was kind of getting worried about it,&8221; Foster said. &8220;I wasn&8217;t hitting my spots in the bullpen. But I got out here, and it started working. It kept them off a pretty good bit.&8221;

The Rebels did their part in the first inning with three runs off Riverfield starter Storm Rigway. Eric Perry singled in a run, C.J. Wright doubled in another and Perry scored on a groundout from Josh Calcote.

In the fifth Calcote&8217;s sacrifice bunt moved Perry and Wright into scoring position, and Sanderson delivered a single to score both for a 6-0 lead. Sanderson later stole second and came around to score when the throw ricocheted off him past the center fielder.

&8220;I think they were ready to play,&8221; Rushing said. &8220;They were wanting to know all day if they were going to play. We had a layoff since Wednesday, and I thought we came out well.

During spring break we hit the ball well. We&8217;re capable of hitting one through nine. When we get wound up at the same time, we&8217;re going to score some runs.&8221;