Area baseball teams improve

Published 12:01 am Monday, March 28, 2011

ERIC J. SHELTON | THE NATCHEZ DEMOCRAT — Natchez High first baseman Alfred Banks tries to stop a Jim Hill runner during their game Friday afternoon at the Chester-Willis baseball field in Natchez.

NATCHEZ — Natchez High School went 3-1 this week behind several, solid pitching outings.

The week started with Natchez pounding Wingfield 27-2, on Tuesday. Trey Fleming and Quinton Logan combined to strike out seven batters in just four innings. Each gave up one run.

Friday night Natchez got its best pitching of the week when Javon Washington no-hit Jim Hill.

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Washington struck out 13 in the 10-0 victory.

Trevonte Green took the mound for Natchez in game one Saturday and pitched the Bulldogs past Port Gibson, 11-5. Green only gave up two earned runs on three hits.

“I am exceptionally proud of our pitchers this week,” Natchez coach Charlie Williams said.

The Bulldogs did throw in one bad pitching performance on Saturday afternoon, however.

Hattiesburg put up 16 runs on 13 hits against Derrian Johnson, Logan and Trevon Chatman in the Bulldogs’ only loss of the week. The three pitchers combined to walk eight batters.

Cathedral

Cathedral School went 2-2 this week with inconsistency being a big issue for the Green Wave.

Tuesday, Cathedral played well as Tyler Morrison led the way to a 7-3, district win over Bogue Chitto. Morrison allowed three runs, one earned, on six singles. He struck out eight.

The Green Wave lost a rematch with Bogue Chitto Friday night, 5-0. Shiloh Martin held the Green Wave to just one hit.

Saturday Cathedral played a pair of wild games in Brookhaven.

The Green Wave beat Tylertown 11-8, but lost to host Brookhaven 27-12.

“The wind was blowing out, which gave the outfielders a lot of trouble, and there was a lot of good hitting,” Cathedral coach Craig Beesley said.

The team struggled to play solid baseball the entire week, especially on the defensive end, Beesley said.

“(I have) been disappointed with our defense so far this season,” Beesley said.

“I thought we were getting better at times, and then we get back to where we started the season. Hopefully it will start getting better, or we may have to try some different people in there.”

Vidalia

The past week was not kind to Vidalia High School in terms of wins and losses, but head coach Tim Herndon said he liked seeing his team claw back in games.

Vidalia lost to Jena High School 8-6 last Monday and to Bunkie High School 8-7 Friday night. But Herndon said his Vikings didn’t just lie down against either team which bodes well for the program in the long run.

“Last Saturday (against Franklin Parish High School) we were down 11-1 going into the fifth, and we could have called it quits, but we scored three runs and played the full seven,” Herndon said.

“Our last couple of games have been like that, where we’ve clawed our way back, and I’m seeing some good things happen. We’re on the verge of winning a big game hopefully.”

The Vikings will host Marksville at 6 tonight.