Lawrence County 19, Natchez High 4

MONTICELLO — Perhaps Natchez High head coach Charlie Williams wishes the Bulldogs’ game at Lawrence County had been rained out.

That’s because the Cougars routed the Bulldogs Saturday afternoon despite ending up with just five total hits. Natchez High helped Lawrence County out a lot, especially in the first and third innings.

“We had four hit batsmen and eight walks. That was our downfall,” Williams said. “We just had a rough outing. They weren’t hitting, but they didn’t have to. We have to improve our pitching.”

Desmond Smoot hit a solo home run as the Bulldogs (11-9) took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning. That would be the last time they would score until the top of the fourth, when they got a two-run home run from Kendall Logan.

Lawrence County (15-5) took the lead for good as it scored nine runs in the bottom of the first thanks to two hit batsmen, four walks, two errors and a pair of singles.

Williams changed pitchers in the second inning and the Cougars were limited to just three runs in the bottom of the second.

“Then the same thing in the third,” Williams said. “We walked four batter and had a hit batsman and we had an error. Their No. 9 and No. 1 batters had back-to-back singles.”

Lawrence County wound up scoring seven runs in the bottom of the third to take a commanding 19-2 lead.