The 2007 Natchez High Classic gave fans of Natchez High, Cathedral and Wilkinson County a glimpse of things to come during the season.

Led by the strong pitching of Patrick McDonough, Cole Mann and Daniel Jenkins, the Green Wave won both of their games, first defeating the Bulldogs 7-2 in three innings and then defeating the Wildcats 10-1 in two innings.

Natchez High redeemed itself by defeating Wilkinson County 11-3 in two innings in the final game of the day.

There was supposed to have been four games altogether, but Hazlehurst dropped out, leaving this year’s Natchez High Classic with just three games.

McDonough and Mann combined to throw a no-hitter against Natchez High and Jenkins gave up no hits against Wilkinson County – much to the delight of head coach Craig Beesley.

“They did a good job,” Beesley said. “We didn’t throw as many strikes today as we wanted to. We had some pitchers with sore arms. Preston (Edwards) didn’t get to throw today.”

McDonough and Mann combined to strike out eight batters and walked three in the first game. Jenkins struck out three and walked three in the second game.

Natchez High scored its two runs in the bottom of the third on a passed ball and an error.

“We played on our heels today. We threw a lot of balls and strikes,” Beesley said. “That’s something we’ve got to work on. We’ve got a big game Tuesday at Vicksburg, which is ranked No. 10 in the state.”

Natchez High assistant coach Sam Kelly felt like if the Bulldogs had been more aggressive at the plate, the score would have been a lot closer.

“We didn’t swing the bat well in the first game,” Kelly said. “We didn’t look that bad.”

Cathedral broke a 1-1 tie in its game against Wilkinson County with nine runs in the bottom of the second inning. McDonough hit a two-run home run, Edwards had a triple and Fondren hit a two-run double for the Green Wave.

Fondren had a big day at the plate as he went a combined 4-for-4 with four runs batted in.

Natchez High had just four hits in its game against Wilkinson County, but aggressive base-running forced the Wildcats to make seven errors.

“The second game we were a little more aggressive at the plate,” Kelly said. “One of our biggest assets is our speed. We got a lot of guys on with passed balls and walks. Once we get more aggressive at the plate, we look forward to having a good team and a good season.”

Kendall Logan and Thomas Hughes each had a big hit as the Bulldogs scored seven runs to start the game. Hughes first hit a two-run triple to centerfield to give then a 3-0 lead. Then Logan hit a two-run, inside-the-park home run, also to centerfield to put the Bulldogs up 6-0.

Four errors, a hit batman and three walks by Wilkinson County starting pitcher R. Jefferson did not help the Wildcats at all.

The Wildcats managed to score two runs in the bottom of the first on a couple of two-out passed balls, but Desmond Smoot struck out the next batter to get out of the inning with the bases loaded.

Hughes added an RBI double in the top of the second as Natchez High scored four more runs to make it an 11-2 game.

Johnny Williams pitched the second inning for the Bulldogs. After he struck out the first two batters, he gave up a run by walking the next four batters, two of them on 3-2 counts. He then struck out the next batter to end the game.

“Our pitchers were consistent with that we were looking for,” Kelly said. “This is my third year with (head) coach (Charlie) Williams. We won 13 games the first year and 17 games last year. We know we can win 20-plus games this season. We’ve got five seniors.”

Natchez High hosts Canton Monday at 4 p.m.