NATCHEZ &045; Adams County head coach Ron Rushing probably won’t count on a rain delay ever again.

When storms moved through the Natchez area Friday night, Rushing thought the Rebels game against Oak Forest in the Trinity tournament at Chester Willis Field would be delayed, at least a little bit.

So much for that. Instead, the game actually started five minutes early, catching the Rebels off guard.

&uot;We had that rain, and I didn’t think we would start on time,&uot; Rushing said. &uot;I didn’t get the boys ready. They didn’t hit in the batting cages, but once they got up to game speed, we did fine.&uot;

That they did, as the Rebels cruised to a 9-1 victory, using a seven-run third to take the game over.

Before Adams County got up to speed, Oak Forest took the lead, getting a first-inning run to go up 1-0. Leadoff hitter Lathan Campo reached base on an error and moved to second when Josh Miller was hit by a pitch. Campo stole third base and came in to score when Adams County catcher Eric Perry’s throw to third sailed high.

But the Rebels made up for that run seven times over in the third. Brian Sanderson walked, went to second on a past ball and third on Clay Floyd’s double. Cole Bradford sent them both home with a double down the third base line to put the Rebels up 2-1.

David Alton New sent a double of his own down the third base line, scoring Bradford. Perry hit a gapper to right and came home on Matt Barnes’ double, the fourth double of the inning for Adams County. Dustin Carroll walked before Josh Calcote singled to bring Barnes in. Carroll was caught in a rundown between second and third and tagged out, but Sanderson, coming up for the second time in the inning, singled to bring in Calcote and make the score 7-1.

&uot;One bad inning costs you the whole game,&uot; Oak Forest head coach Joe Weaver said. &uot;We’re just at that point where we’re making more mental mistakes than physical mistakes.&uot;

The Rebels took advantage of four Yellow Jacket errors and several passed balls in scoring their runs, something Rushing said made the difference in the game.

&uot;The thing was every time they messed up we capitalized on it,&uot; Rushing said.

Adams County added two more runs in the fifth inning when Luke Brumfield singled, stole second and moved to third when Oak Forest catcher Matt Perrier’s throw to second didn’t have an infielder in place to receive it and scuttled into center field. Brumfield came in on Sanderson’s double to right field, and Sanderson scored on Bradford’s single.

Rebels’ pitcher Floyd induced a ground ball and a pop up and struck out one batter in the fifth to end the game for an Adams County win. Floyd threw a complete game, allowing just one hit.

&uot;He was rushing early in his moves. We went out and talked to him, slowed him down and he did a heck of a job,&uot; Rushing said. &uot;He got that changeup working and used it a lot the last few innings and really threw them off.&uot;

Adams County hit the ball well throughout the game, amassing 13 hits, five of them for multiple bases.

&uot;We swung the bat well again once we got up to speed,&uot; Rushing said.

Weaver said his young team is working to improve throughout the summer and play more cohesively. He said many of his players don’t have as much baseball experience as some teams and need the time to learn to work together and cut out mental mistakes.

&uot;Our goal is to get better every at-bat,&uot; Weaver said. &uot;Winning or losing doesn’t matter. Games won’t make us better; at-bats and ground balls and pitching performances will make us better. We have to do little things right. This group has basically just been together since January, so we’re just trying to become a solid ball team, not solid individual players.&uot;

The Rebels will play Wesson at 2 p.m. and Brookhaven Academy at 6 p.m. today in the tournament. Oak Forest will face Trinity at 4 p.m.