Errors hurt Natchez 8s in 19-10 defeat

Published 12:46 am Thursday, June 24, 2010

BROOKHAVEN — The Natchez 8-year-old All-Stars overcame an early deficit to post a victory in their first game of the district tournament, but they couldn’t do the same in their second game.

Natchez fell behind 10-4 in the second inning and never could catch up in a 19-10 loss to Lincoln County Americans.

Lincoln County Americans had two big innings, scoring seven runs in the second and five runs in the fourth, which keyed their victory.

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“The key tonight was errors,” Natchez coach Dan Ratcliff said. “We had several errors in throwing the ball around. The inning where they scored seven runs and the inning where they scored five runs, we made several errors.”

Natchez also suffered from a bit of a power outage on Wednesday.

They racked up lots of singles, but could only produce five extra base hits.

Jakel Barnes and Ethan Piazza hit triples while James Singleton, Jack Whitehead and Jacob Reese belted doubles.

“We didn’t have the extra base hits like we had the night before,” Ratcliff said. “And (Lincoln Americans) had someone in center field who, if we hit the ball to him, he would throw our guys out at second base coming from first. He made several outs that way.”

Natchez will now play Hazlehurst in an elimination game at 6 p.m. today, and Ratcliff said it will be important for the Natchez players to shake off Wednesday’s loss quickly and get ready for Hazlehurst.

“We told them to forget about this game, put it behind them and get ready to play hard,” Ratcliff said. “It’s win or go home.”