NATCHEZ — The Franklin County coach pitch all-stars ran into a Copiah team that kept stringing together hit after hit.

The result was an 18-3 loss in the Mississippi Dixie Youth sub-district tournament Saturday, eliminating the Franklin County 7s and 8s from postseason contention.

Franklin County managed 10 hits Saturday afternoon but had no answer for Copiah’s offensive outburst, as Copiah tallied 25 hits, including multiple ones for extra bases.

“They hit the ball hard,” Franklin County coach Wayne Johnson said. “The thing you have to do in this league is hit it, and they hit it to the outfield. When you do that, you’re going to score runs.”

Franklin County got into an early 7-0 hole after the first inning. Conner Toney smacked a triple that scored two runs, then Conner Mclendon hit a single to send home Toney. Caden White followed it up with an RBI single, and Kloe Guy sent home two runs on an RBI groundout. Chance Clower drove in Copiah’s final run of the first on an RBI single.

Copiah added four more runs in the bottom the second. Aiden Rogers and Chris Ellis had back-to-back RBI singles, and a double by Toney drove in another run. Mclendon added an RBI single, giving Copiah a 10-0 lead.

The third inning saw more of the same for Copiah, as RBI singles by Jacob Hust, Gunner Palmer, Ellis and Toney all drove in runs. A double by Ricky Tebo plated two more runs, and Tebo came home to score on a throwing error, putting Copiah ahead 17-0.

Franklin County finally got on the board in the top of the fourth inning. John Brantley Pedigo drove in Franklin County’s first run on an RBI single to send home Josh Smith. Jacob Miller drove in Bryce Wilkerson with a single, and an RBI fielder’s choice by J’waun Mackey plated another run, cutting Copiah’s lead to 17-3.

But Copiah got the walkoff win, as John Mackey Jenkins scored on an RBI fielder’s choice by Guy. The game was called after that due to the 15-runs-after-four mercy rule.

Johnson said his team got some much-needed all-star experience, and he expects next year’s coach pitch team to fare much better in sub-district play.

“We played good, and we have a lot of room to improve,” Johnson said. “We just didn’t hit the ball. We have a young team, and next year, we’ll be a year older.”