NATCHEZ — Two teams ranked in the top 10 in MAIS Class AA took to the diamond at David “Papa” New Field Monday night as seventh-ranked Adams County Christian School hosted ninth-ranked Central Hinds Academy.

However, what ensued was anything but a good game of baseball. ACCS out-hit Central Hinds 10 to eight, but committed six errors that contributed to several of the Cougars’ runs as they defeated the Rebels 8-3.

What also hurt ACCS was it left several base runners stranded. So many, in fact, that head coach Hunter McKeivier was in no mood to count exactly how many.

“We left a lot of runners on base. We left the whole game on the base paths. We just came out flat tonight,” McKeivier said. “(We) never looked good at any point of the game, from beginning to end.”

Central Hinds broke a 1-1 tie in the top of the second inning to take the lead. The Cougars then took command of the game by scoring two runs in the top of the fourth inning and four runs in the top of the fifth.

“Six (of their eight) runs were unearned runs. I’m not taking anything away from Central Hinds. They played a lot harder than we did. They wanted it more. They got it,” McKeivier said.

Keller Bradford went the distance for Central Hinds to pick up the win, despite allowing the 10 hits. Bradford struck out four and walked four. Lee Douglas went 2-for-4 with a double and Austin Sills was 2-for-3.

Christopher Perry went 4-for-4 with a home run and Chris Carell was 2-for-4 for the Rebels.

ACCS (12-4) plays at Copiah Academy today with the junior varsity game at 5:30 p.m. and the varsity game at 7 p.m.

LaSalle 13, Block 2

JONESVILLE, La. — Levi Stringer’s grand slam home run in the top of the fourth inning broke a tie ball game as the LaSalle Tigers went on to defeat the Block Bears in five innings Monday afternoon.

The District 3-1A opener didn’t go exactly as Block head coach Stevie McCarthy was hoping it would. But after the first three innings it was either team’s game to win. Neither team scored a run during the first couple of innings and both teams scored one run in the third inning.

“Just the errors and pitching. Take nothing away from LaSalle. They hit the ball,” McCarthy said.

Then came the top of the fourth inning. With a couple of runners already on base, LaSalle hit a ground ball for what ended up being an untimely error by Block that loaded the bases. Then Stringer stepped up to the plate and hit a grand slam off Bears pitcher Chase Duncan to make it a 5-1 game.

“We should have been out of that inning with one run. An error on an attempted double play ball left everyone safe. We just didn’t hit our spots on the pitch. We paid for it,” McCarthy said. As to whether the error or the grand slam took the air out of his team, he said, “I think it was the error with the grand slam.”

The Tigers got a two-run home run from Tyler Belcher later on in the frame as part of their seven-run rally to take an 8-1 lead. They added five more runs in the top of the fifth to go ahead 13-1.

Block scored just one run in the bottom of the fifth and the game ended early due to the 10-run rule. The Bears did themselves no favors by getting just six hits and committing five errors. Even though he went the distance, Duncan gave up 11 hits, walked six, hit two batters and struck out four in a losing effort.

Winning pitcher Justin Hines also went the distance. He allowed two runs on just six hits, struck out three, walked none and hit one batter.

Block (5-8, 0-1) hosts Harrisonburg Friday at 4 p.m.

Trinity Episcopal splits a pair with River Oaks

MONROE, La. — The Trinity Episcopal Saints, ranked No. 1 in Class A, hit the road to take on the River Oaks Mustangs, the fourth-ranked team in Class AA, for a varsity doubleheader Monday afternoon.

In the first of two five-inning match-ups, Jake Winston held River Oaks to just two hits – both to opposing and losing pitcher Ryan MacGregor – in a complete-game performance as Trinity Episcopal rallied for a 2-1 win over River Oaks.

The only run the Mustangs scored off Winston came in the bottom of the first inning. After that, Winston kept them off balance and kept the Saints in the ball game. Trinity finally got to MacGregor with two runs in the top of the third inning.

Winston as well as Kent King had a double for the Saints, who had just three hits in the game.

The second game saw a lot more hitting and a lot more offense. Trinity jumped out to an early 4-0 lead, but River Oaks stormed by thanks to a six-run rally in the bottom of the fourth inning to get past the Saints 9-5.

Trinity scored three runs in the top of the first inning and brought in another run in the top of the second for the four-run advantage. But despite ending up with 11 hits, the Saints managed just one more run and that was in the top of the fourth.

River Oaks got back in the game with three runs in the bottom of the third inning to cut the Saints’ lead to 4-3. The Mustangs trailed 5-3 heading into the bottom of the fourth, but ended the inning with a 9-5 lead thanks to their big half-inning.

Daniel Dunaway went 3-for-3 with a triple and Givonni Dent was 2-for-3 with a double to lead Trinity at the plate.

Vincent Moore went 2-for-3 with a double and a key three-run home run. Alex Lavalle had a solo home run for the Mustangs.

Trinity Episcopal (7-2) returns to MAIS District 6-A action today when it hosts Tensas Academy at 4 p.m. at the Huntington baseball field.

Brookhaven Academy 5, Centreville 4

CENTREVILLE — Even though Brookhaven Academy is the defending MAIS Class AA state champion, the Cougars have struggled out of the gate to a 7-4 record and a No. 11 ranking in Class AA.

And after Centerville Academy rallied to tie the game at 4-4 in the bottom of the fifth inning, Brookhaven Academy was in jeapordy of its fifth loss of the season. That was until the Cougars came through with the game-winning run in the top of the seventh as they held off the third-ranked Tigers Monday night.

Winning pitcher Bubba Keene held his own against a Centreville team that is expected to contend for the state title this season. He allowed just one run through the first four innings before running into some trouble in the bottom of the fifth.

Hunter Devall led the Tigers at the plate by going 2-for-2 with a triple. Randy Bell went 2-for-3 with a double and Tyler Towles had a double.

He was unable to protect a 4-1 lead the Cougars (8-4) gave him thanks to two runs in the top of the fourth and two more in the top of the fifth. However, Keene settled back down and kept the Tigers off the scoreboard in the bottom of the sixth and seventh innings.

Keene helped his own cause by going 2-for-3 while Hunter McCullough had a double and Gage Posey was 2-for-4 with a double.

Centreville Academy (10-5) returns to MAIS District 5-AA action today as it travels to Woodville to face Wilkinson County Christian Academy. The junior varsity game starts at 4:30 p.m. and the varsity game gets under way at 6:30 p.m.