Scheduling mix-up costs Natchez 7s

Published 12:47 am Thursday, June 24, 2010

WESSON — Keeping focus is hard enough for Major League players when they have to wait through a long delay.

Just imagine how tough it is for 7-year-olds.

Due to a bracket mix-up, the Natchez 7-year-old coach pitch All-Stars had to wait for several hours before they were able to play their opening game of the tournament.

Email newsletter signup

And it showed, as Natchez fell to host Wesson 20-10.

“Our bracket said we were scheduled to play at 6 p.m.,” Natchez coach Justin Robinson said. “We got there at 4:45 only to be told they changed the bracket and moved our game to 8 p.m. So we sat out there for several extra hours before we played. It was hard to try and keep (the players) focused for that long.”

That lack of focus showed as Wesson scored seven runs in the top of the first inning.

Natchez responded with two in the bottom of the inning but Wesson put six more on the board in the top of the third.

Natchez climbed back into the game with six runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to make the score 13-8, but Wesson came right back with five runs in the top of the fifth to put the game away.

“We hit the ball well, but errors cost us the game,” Robinson said. “You can’t blame it on any one individual, the whole team made some errors.”

Natchez hit four home runs in the game, as Sam Mosby, Derrick Brown, Matt Petty and Tripp Cotton all had round-trippers.

Derrick Brown hit a triple for Natchez and Parker Robinson, Petty and Mosby hit doubles.

Natchez will take on Lincoln County Nationals at 6 p.m. today in an elimination game, and despite Wednesday’s loss, Robinson is confident in his team’s ability.

“They’ve got a good team, but I feel like we can beat them,” Robinson said. “If we play like we are capable of, we can beat anybody.”