NATCHEZ — Ryan Comer was not a power hitter. He didn’t drive in a lot of runs batting in the No. 2 spot for the Adams County Christian baseball team last season.

But the Rebel senior left fielder mastered the art of the most important thing you can do in baseball — he scored runs.

Comer batted .390 and scored 35 runs for the District 3-AA champion Rebels last season, which earned him a spot in the MPSA Class AA-AAA All-Star Game.

Comer was the only player from District 3-AA selected to play in the All-Star Game, which takes place at 11 a.m. Saturday at Smith-Wills Stadium in Jackson.

“You always have to have somebody that has to get on base for us to be able to score runs, and he was it,” ACCS baseball coach Hunter McKeivier said. “He had a knack for scoring runs last year when he batted ninth, and this season we moved him into the No. 2 hole and he did the same thing. Just about anytime he’d get on base, he’d come around to score for us.”

McKeivier said that Comer’s ability to get on base and score runs was a key component to the success the Rebels had in 2009.

“He was always on base and gave the big sticks a chance to drive him in,” McKeivier said. “There were several (opposing) coaches that told me they had trouble getting him out. He would do whatever it took to get on base for us, which made it easy for the guys later in the lineup to drive him in.”

And that knack for being able to cross home plate didn’t just happen, Comer said. There is a lot of hard work behind it.

“I spent plenty of time in the batting cage,” Comer said. “I was one of the last players to leave practice every day. I talked to the coaches about what I needed to do to make myself better and it worked out for me.”

And Comer was surprised to learn he was the only player in his district to be selected for the All-Star Game.

“It’s a huge honor for me,” Comer said. “I knew I had done something to impress the other coaches in the district. It really shocked me.”

Comer said he would like to continue his baseball career at the college level.

He plans on attending Southwest Mississippi Community College and hopes to walk on to their baseball team.

“I’ll try out and try to get on the team there,” Comer said. “I’ll just see where that takes me.”