NATCHEZ — It was a slow day early for Cathedral baseball coach Craig Beesley at the Mississippi Crossroads Diamond Club All-Star Game Saturday at Trustmark Park.

Beesley coached the 1A/2A/3A South All-Star team to a 5-2 victory over the North squad, but it took over six innings for either team to get on the board.

“It was a good experience,” Beesley said. “We won 5-2, and all of the runs were scored in the seventh inning. We scored five in the inning, and they came back and scored two, and then we held them in the eighth and ninth.”

Beesley said it was an honor to coach the South team, which was full of great athletes.

“I enjoyed it, and had a good time,” Beesley said. “Everybody got a lot of playing time like we were hoping, and it was nice to be able to coach kids this athletic.”

Beesley said it was a task for him and co-coach Jonathan Breakfield from Loyd Star, to get everyone in the game for three innings, which was the required amount of playing time for each player.

“(Me and Breakfield) had a good relationship. We came up with the starting lineup together, and we had a good game plan to get everybody in and we did. It went smooth,” Beesley said. “A lot of kids got two at-bats.”

Beesley said Perry Central’s Cody Brewer was the winning pitcher and MVP. Brewer pitched the maximum of three innings and had seven strikeouts. Hazelhurst’s Gabriel Gray was the offensive MVP for the south, Beesley said.

Beesley said it was hot, but he was happy with the attendance for the game.

“A lot of people were there. It was a hot day, (approximately) 104 degrees in the stadium, but it was a good day for baseball,” he said.

Beesley said it was a great honor to be able to coach in the game that his father, Ken Beesley, coached in 1983.

“(Coaching in the same game) is big because it’s been a long time since ’83, and we can look back and talk about the changes from (then to now),” Beesley said. “There has been a major change in the way the game is played. The kids are so athletic now.”

Beesley said he would bring the experience back and share it with his Green Wave players.

“(I will just) try to relate the experience to the kids, and give them something they can strive for,” Beesley said. “Hopefully we can get kids (in the game) in the future. We were unable to this year, but we had several the last couple of years.”

Beesley said he will now start to shift his focus to next season’s Green Wave squad.

“I knew I would be tied up with (the all-star game) for two weeks, so I couldn’t get a (summer) schedule together, but we will workout with the (players) that are not in football,” Beesley said. “The football guys are in football mode, but those that don’t play football we will continue to work on the side.”

Beesley led the Green Wave to a 17-7 record and a District 7-1A title.