JACKSON — Natchez High bounced back from a loss to Division 6-6A opponent Terry in emphatic fashion as the Bulldogs annihilated the Provine Rams 18-1 Saturday afternoon in a mere three innings in a non-division game.

After giving up eight runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to Terry in what turned out to be a 13-6 loss Friday night, Natchez High took out its frustrations on a struggling Provine team for its biggest one-sided win in recent years.

And it didn’t take long for the Bulldogs to assert themselves in this game by scoring 11 runs before Provine even went to bat in the first inning.

“I was extremely pleased. We hit the ball much better, but there’s still some improvement as far as hitting is concerned,” Natchez High head coach Charlie Williams said. “They took care of a team like they should take care of them.”

Winning pitcher Travonta Green went all three innings for the Bulldogs as he gave up one run on one hit, struck out five, walked none and hit one batter. The Rams’ only run was in the bottom of the first inning.

Even though the Bulldogs had 14 hits in the game, only three went for extra bases. Trevon Chatman had a triple and went 3-for-4. Kennan McCallister had a double as well as Johnathon Hawkins, who was 3-for-3. Jadarius Williams also went 3-for-3. They were also helped out by seven Provine errors.

Coach Williams said he wasn’t able to get a read on how his team played defensively because the game went just three innings. But he had to be thrilled that the Bulldogs had no errors.

“Overall, they showed me the team that they could be. We’ve just got to stay consistent throughout the remainder of the year,” Williams said.

Natchez High (3-1) will participate in the Lawrence County Invitational, which will take place Tuesday. The Bulldogs will take on host Lawrence County at 10 a.m. and Loyd Star at 12:30 p.m.

Block drops two at Franklin Parish Tournament

WINNSBORO, La. — After a heartbreaking loss to Caldwell Parish Friday night, the Block Bears were looking to get back to their winning ways Saturday afternoon at the Franklin Parish Tournament.

However, that would not be the case as Block’s bats, pitching and defense were nowhere to be seen in a 10-2 loss to the Rayville Hornets and a 14-4 loss in six innings to the Delhi Charter Gators.

“That game (Friday) night took a lot out of us. I just didn’t have enough pitching today, Block head coach Stevie McCarthy said.

In its first game of the day, Block had a 2-0 lead over Rayville heading into the bottom of the third inning. But Rayville tied the game in its half of the third and took the lead for good with a three-run rally in the bottom of the fourth. In fact, the Hornets scored the last 10 runs of the game over a four-inning stretch.

The Bears had just two hits in the game and committed four errors while the Hornets pounded out eight hits to offset three errors of their own.

The second game of the afternoon for Block saw both the Bears and Delhi Charter score three runs in the first inning. Then the Gators took over by scoring two runs in each of the next two innings for a 7-4 lead and wound up 10-run ruling Block by scoring four runs in the bottom of the sixth.

“It’s early in the season and I didn’t want to over-pitch anyone. I just took it easy on my pitchers,” McCarthy said. “We’ve got two big games Monday and Tuesday against Vidalia and Buckeye.”

The Block-Delhi Charter game didn’t have a lot of great, or even good, defensive plays as the two teams combined to commit nine errors – five by Block and four by Delhi Charter. Vashawn Davis had the only extra-base hit for the Bears with a double.

Block (4-6) plays at Vidalia on Monday with the junior varsity game at 4 p.m. and the varsity game at 6 p.m.