MAGEE —All good things must come to an end.

For the Natchez 11-year-old All-Stars, the end to their run at a Dixie Youth world series title came Sunday night. One night after falling to Magee 13-7, the Natchez 11s were eliminated from the South Regional Tournament in Magee with a 15-2 loss to McComb.

“We were out of pitching and we had our backs to the wall,” Natchez coach Billy Ray Farmer said. “It just didn’t pan out.”

McComb got out to an early 9-1 lead in the first, and Natchez was unable to recover.

“We had some dropped balls and some outs we should have had,” Farmer said,” but certainly not enough to make up a 13-run deficit.”

Farmer said after making a run deep into the tournament that his team was out of gas.

“We had fought so hard to get to where we were,” Farmer said. “Sometimes you’re just out of ways (to win).”

Prior to the state tournament, the Natchez 11s had swept McComb in the best-of-three series to win the district tournament. Although they had won two games against McComb, Farmer said his team was not overly confident. Despite losing, shortstop Jaylen Fleming gave Natchez fans something to cheer about.

In the third inning Fleming roped a ball past a diving McComb centerfielder and turned what Farmer said would have normally been a play at third into an inside-the-park home run.

“He’s got blazing speed,” Farmer said. “He may be the fastest guy in the state in Dixie Youth. He can peddle.”

Not only did Fleming make an impact with his bat, he also made a Jim Edmonds-like catch.

Earlier in the game Fleming charged from his shortstop position into left field, making a catch over his shoulder and then had the presence to relay the ball into the infield to hold the runners. Through the tournament Natchez went 9-2.

“They took (the loss) to heart,” Farmer said. “It meant something to them. There were some tears and at the end of the day they’ll put it behind them and move on.”

Farmer said just making it to the state tournament was reason to be proud.

“This group of guys had never made it this far,” he said. “This is the first time they’ve made it to the state tournament. This is big to even be here.

“There’s certainly no reason for them to hang heir heads.”