Whittington powers its way to 17-10 win in season finale

Published 11:44 pm Thursday, May 26, 2016

NATCHEZ — JaCorian Sewell launched the first pitch he saw well over the left-field wall for a three-run homer in the second inning of Whittington State Farm’s 17-10 win over Redd Pest Solutions in Dixie Youth O-Zone baseball action Thursday night.

“The feeling of hitting a home run and celebrating with my teammates is great, because I’m doing it for them,” Sewell said. “It’s good to share.”

The long home run was Sewell’s third blast of the season, and secured his spot as the home run king of the league for 2016.

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“It’s cool,” Sewell said. “I just focus on making on contact with the ball. The rest came easy.”

The rangy shortstop finished with three hits, including a triple, and drove in five runs.

Sewell had plenty of help in the game as Whittington pounded out 10 hits, including four extra-base hits.

“It feels right when everyone is hitting, and it’s fun winning,” Sewell said. “It’s fun when everyone helps with the win.”

Whittington had a scorching start to the game as they scored 13 runs in the opening frame.

“The boys came out focused,” Whittington coach Savali Savali said.

Savali said his squad finished the year 6-4 and came to the ballpark Thursday thinking a victory could potentially give them the league title. However, just before first pitch, Savali’s team received bad news.

“We’re tied (atop) the standings, but a head-to-head matchup put us in second,” Savali said. “They were ready to win it all, and that’s why they came out fired up.”

Whittington eventually expanded its lead to 17-0 after two innings, but Redd Pest wouldn’t go away quietly.

Redd’s rallied for 10 runs in the third inning to put a scare into Whittington as it rotated through three pitchers in the third.

“I’m really happy with the way we finished the game,” Redd’s coach Chris Smith. “I’m glad we were able to end the season on a strong note.”

The 10-run rally was highlighted by a two-run single from Ashton Lively.

“They did exactly what I asked them to do,” Smith said. “They didn’t give up, and they stayed excited. Up until the very last pitch, they were in the game, and they were supporting each other.”

Samuel Merriett went 3-for-3 with, scoring three runs and driving in two runs for Whittington.