NATCHEZ — Sometimes, it is better to be lucky than good.

The Natchez 10-year-old All-Star team found that out Tuesday night, as they needed a little luck to escape with an 8-7 victory over McComb in Game 1 of the Dixie Youth District 6 championship series.

Natchez trailed 7-6 with two outs and two runners on base when Zac Flattman lifted a high fly ball to deep centerfield that looked like it would be the third out.

However, the ball was misplayed by the McComb centerfielder and fell for a double, allowing the tying and winning run to score for Natchez.

“We got lucky,” Natchez coach Gary Farmer said. “I guess when you’re playing in a championship tournament, you need to be a little lucky, and we were tonight.”

Flattman said he knew he got under the pitch when he hit it, and was just hoping it would fall somewhere.

“I didn’t know if it would drop or not,” Flattman said. “I didn’t see it until I rounded first base. We were a little fortunate, but we pulled it out and got the hits when we needed them.”

Natchez got the game started off on the wrong foot when McComb scored three runs in the top of the first inning.

McComb loaded the bases on a couple of hits and a walk, and Tyler Brown drove them all in with a single that was followed by a Natchez error.

Natchez came back to take the lead in the bottom of the second inning thanks to some shaky defense by McComb.

The first run of the inning scored on an error by the shortstop and Christian Day drove in the second run on a sacrifice fly to right field.

Gabe Smith then hit a single which would have put runners on second and third, but an error by the centerfielder allowed the runners to advance to second and third, which proved big when Dalvion Jackson picked up an RBI when he grounded out to second base.

Natchez then took the lead when Daniel Garrity hit a soft line drive that glanced off the third baseman’s glove.

The game was a back-and-forth affair after that, as neither team could take control of the game.

McComb tied the score in the top of the fourth when Matthew Phillips scored on a throwing error following a sacrifice bunt.

Natchez took the lead back in the bottom of the fourth when scored on a wild pitch after singling to lead off the inning.

McComb tied the score again in the top of the fifth when Peyton Hamilton knocked in a run with a two-out double, but Natchez once again took the lead in the bottom of the inning when Sam Parker drove in a run with a groundout.

McComb took the lead away from Natchez in the top of the sixth.

Mark Barnard drove in the tying run with a single and Bailey Norman drove in the go-ahead run with a groundout.

In the bottom of the sixth, Craig Bradley reached base with one out thanks to a McComb errors, and Gage Dossett hit a two-out single to set up Flattman’s game-winner.

“We were all pretty uptight going into the last inning,” Flattman said. “But we were still pumped up and ready to get some runners on base and hit.”

Despite the win, Farmer said his team will have to play better in the future.

“We didn’t do what it takes to win tonight and McComb did,” Farmer said. “We just got lucky. I hope we got our bad game out of the way and we start hitting the ball like Natchez knows how to hit it.”

Natchez has a chance to win the series tonight when they play at McComb at 7 p.m.

Both teams advance to the South State tournament, but Natchez would be the No. 1 seed and District 6 champion with a win.

“I think we’ll be better now that we know how (McComb) plays,” Flattman said. “We should hit the ball better in the second game.”