NATCHEZ &045; There’s a message that’s been circulating somewhere at Duncan Park that’s yet to reach the Natchez 11-year-old Dixie Youth All-Stars.

Host teams aren’t supposed to do this at the state tournament.

Not only have the All-Stars remained undefeated in a tournament they received an automatic bid to participate, but they pulled off another win in dramatic fashion Wednesday thanks to a key hit from Jamon Gray to take a 10-5 win in extra innings and get to the championship game.

That’s set for 6 p.m. today against Magee at Carroll-Jones Field.

And Magee &045; last year’s Minor League state champ &045; has to beat Natchez twice to claim the crown.

&uot;We’re definitely not playing above our heads,&uot; Natchez head coach Boo Brumfield said. &uot;These kids can play ball. There has been luck involved, but you’ve got to be good and be lucky to win a tournament like this. It takes both.

&uot;I’m about mentally exhausted. Each game has been down to the wire. It can’t get any more exciting for me. I don’t have a dog in this show because my boy (Tyler) got hurt. I stayed with it, and I’m glad I did.&uot;

Everyone stayed with the team as the game wore on with both teams deadlocked at 5-5 after six innings, but that’s when the Natchez bats really came around against Laurel pitcher Deion Ulmer.

Ulmer, who was solid on the mound for just about the entire game with nine strikeouts and no walks, surrendered hits to Collin Hammons and Scott Turner with one out. Daniel Huffines then hit a grounder to third, but the umpires ruled Darius Dace missed Hammons with the tag to load the bases with one out.

The call brought out an argument from Laurel head coach Elvin Ulmer, who was tossed shortly thereafter.

But Jamon Gray lined the first pitch he saw to the gap in right center to score Hammons, Turner and Huffines to give Natchez an 8-5 lead.

&uot;I knew he could do it,&uot; Brumfield said. &uot;It was just a matter of stepping up. He always has confidence in himself. He may strike out three times, but he’ll come up the next time and he’s going to hit it. He’s been hitting it, and it was just a matter of time before he hit the gap with it.&uot;

The damage wasn’t done there. A Trevor Farmer single pushed Gray to third, and Lee Fairbanks &045; Monday night’s hero &045; laid down a nice bunt with two outs to score both Gray and Farmer when the throw to first went wild for a 10-5 lead.

Natchez then came in the seventh with Scott Turner in relief of Hammons, who threw five innings of relief behind Daniel Dunaway and held Laurel in check until the later innings.

Turner retired the side in order &045; the last two outs on strikeouts &045; to close the door and register a save.

Hammons had held Laurel in check until the fifth when Laurel tacked on two and the sixth when Deion Ulmer’s single up the middle scored Levi Summrall to tie the game at 5-5.

&uot;Collin was looking pretty good, but his arm was hurting a little bit,&uot; Brumfield said.

&uot;He was getting behind in the count. When you get behind, you throw too many pitches. We could have went with Turner the whole game today, but they had already seen him. We didn’t know if they had taken batting practice and would be sitting on him.&uot;

Natchez couldn’t get a hit in the middle innings against Ulmer before scoring twice in the fifth thanks to two Laurel errors. Gray scored the first run on an error, and Avery Middleton later scored from third when the throw back to the mound was off.

But credit Laurel for battling and tying the game. Kole Hill and Dace each scored on wild pitches in the fifth inning to trim the lead to 5-4 before Summrall reached on a bunt single to lead off the sixth and later score.