The Natchez high baseball team rallied in the bottom of the fourth inning, trailing Monterey 8-3, to come from behind and win 9-8.

The Bulldogs jumped ahead early in the bottom of the first inning as the Bulldogs scored two runs and took a 2-0 lead over Monterey.

But the lead was short-lived as Monterey scored seven runs off five hits and two errors by the Bulldogs in the top of the second inning to take a commanding 7-2 lead.

Natchez head coach Charlie Williams said defensive lapses by the Bulldogs were costly early on.

But eventually, the Bulldogs’ defense got on track and held Monterey scoreless in the third inning, and the Bulldogs tacked on one run in the bottom of the third to cut the lead to four. Monterey got back the run in the top of the fourth, but failed to stop the Bulldogs in the bottom of the inning.

In the bottom of the final inning, due to time constraints, the Bulldogs scored six runs to win the game.

Monterey walked two runners in to score, while a wild pitch scored another run for the Bulldogs. The rest of the six runs were scored by the Bulldogs’ bats and base running. Kenndall Logan scored the winning run off a Marcus Hargrave bunt.

“I try to instill in all my teams a never give up mentality. I tell them quitters never win and winners never quit,” Williams said.

He said despite the lapses on defense, the Bulldogs are still making adjustments and their hitting is coming around.

Franklin County 10, Choudrant 2

A steady attack on offense and a strong outing by Franklin County starting pitcher Ryan Ratcliff led the Bulldogs to 10-2 win over Choudrant in the Cathedral Green Wave Classic.

The Bulldogs got their bats going early in the top of the first inning as they scored two runs off two hits.

They added four more runs in the top of the second inning to take a 6-0 lead, but Choudrant put two runs on the scoreboard in the bottom of the second inning off two hits.

Choudrant managed to cut the lead to four runs, but that would be as close they would come.

In the top of the third inning, the Bulldogs put the game away for good by scoring four more runs off two hits and one error to take a 10-2 lead, which they would carry through the end of the fifth inning, when the game was called due to the time limit.

Franklin County head coach Jeremy Loy said his team did good job of putting the ball in play and moving runners around the bases.

He also attributed the win to strong pitching by Ratcliff. Ratcliff finished the day with nine strikeouts in five innings of work. He allowed only two hits and gave up five walks.

The Bulldogs also stole seven bases as a team.

“The bats came around and we are getting better,” Loy said.

The final game of the tournament between Cathedral and Natchez was canceled due to the tornado warning in the Natchez area, and the game has not been rescheduled.