NATCHEZ — Earlier in the season, Copiah Academy’s Hunter Renfroe hit three home runs in a game against Adams County Christian School.

After being intentionally walked three times in his first three at-bats in Monday night’s game, Renfroe came up with the bases loaded and Copiah Academy trailing 10-9 in the top of the sixth inning.

And once again Renfroe came up big as hit a single off relief pitcher Brandon Sanders that went up the middle and an error ensued, allowing all three base runners to score, giving the Colonels a 12-10 win over the Rebels.

ACCS head coach Hunter McKievier said if he were to do it all over again, he would still have had Sanders pitch to Renfroe instead of another intentional walk.

“I believe in my team. I believe in Sanders,” McKievier said. “They just got the hits when they needed to. It was a fun game to watch. I told my team after the game I was very pleased with the way we played for seven innings. They gave 100 percent effort.”

And against the fifth-ranked team in Class AAA to boot. ACCS (9-6) used three pitchers in the game — Colin Dollar, Ryan Goddard and Sanders, who pitched the final two innings. Dollar and Goddard had both came on in relief this season, so McKievier decided to give them some playing time to see how they would do down the stretch.

“They showed promise at times,” McKievier said. “We committed four errors that hurt us. We had four walks in a row and seven for the game. We’ve got to cut down on those to protect the pitchers.”

Things didn’t look too promising for ACCS at the start of the game as Copiah Academy (11-2) scored five runs in the first two innings and had a 5-1 heading into the bottom of the third inning. But the Rebels rallied by scoring six runs to take a 7-5 lead.

The Colonels answered with three runs over the next two inning to reclaim the lead at 8-7. However, the Rebels refused to go away quietly as they scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth to give them a 10-8 lead. Sanders came on in relief in the sixth inning, but gave up four runs and the lead to the Colonels.

But the third time would not be the charm for ACCS as the Rebels came up empty in the final two innings.

“We were able to execute in ways we haven’t like bunting. We hadn’t laid down a bunt all season. Tonight we were successful in three or four that were big,” McKievier said. “Hopefully, hitting the ball is coming around for us. This was the best team effort we’ve been able to put together all year long.”

Christopher Perry hit his eighth home run of the season and Johnny Smith was 3-for-4 for ACCS, which had 13 hits in the game. Ben Boone and Russ Singleton each homered for the Colonels.

ACCS will take on Simpson Academy at Co-Lin Wesson today at 6 p.m.