HAZLEHURST — Natchez Dixie Youth 10-year-old All-Stars coach Jeff Webb didn’t want to use his pitching ace Tyler Wilson more than a couple of innings in their first game of the sub-district tournament Thursday night.

But plans changed when Natchez faced off against another pitching ace.

However, Wilson was up to the challenge as he pitched a complete-game one-hitter in Natchez’s 3-1 victory.

“Tyler threw a heck of a ballgame,” Webb said. “He gave up just one hit and had 11 strikeouts. Two good pitchers were pitching. We were in a dogfight and I was proud of the way we fought through it.”

Copiah pitcher Edrick Allsworth almost matched Williams pitch for pitch. However, one bad inning was all Natchez needed.

Natchez struck for three runs in the bottom of the third inning, thanks to a triple by Skeeter Myles and a double by Jeremy Myles.

“Skeeter got on and got to running and Jeremy got on and got to running and we got the pitcher rattled a little bit,” Webb said.

Because of Dixie Youth tournament pitching limits, Webb was trying to limit the number of innings Wilson pitched Thursday.

Pitching rules state that a pitcher can only pitch 13 innings the entire tournament and if he pitches more than two innings, he must have one day of rest.

“We like to have three pitchers pitch two innings each,” Webb said. “But that wasn’t available to us tonight.”

Webb said that Thursday’s tournament-opening win was huge for his team.

“It’s definitely important to stay in the winners bracket,” Webb said. “As long as we stay in the winners bracket, we’re in good shape. We’re happy to get that first win and get the butterflies out of our system.”

The 10-year-old All-Stars will play at 8 p.m. today against Wesson at Copiah Academy.