Webb’s rallies from 6-0 deficit for city crown
Published 12:00 am Saturday, June 5, 2004
NATCHEZ &045; If you ask the Webb’s Furniture coaches, they now say nothing really gets their players nervous or scared.
You ask the players about the coaches, and, um, that may be a different story.
For the second straight game Webb’s Furniture fell behind 6-0 early in the game, but this time it was the city championship of the Natchez Dixie Youth pitching machine league. But like it did on Tuesday, the team stayed cool and pulled out a 12-10 win over United Mississippi Bank for the title.
&uot;They never get rattled,&uot; Webb’s Furniture coach Billy Ray Farmer said. &uot;They were down 6-0 (Tuesday) and didn’t score until the second inning. They’re just so calm, and we’re going crazy.&uot;
United Mississippi Bank jumped out to a big lead and never really went away until the game ended with the tying run on base. But after UMB took a 6-0 lead in the first inning, things didn’t look that great for Webb’s Furniture, particularly after still posting a donut on the scoreboard heading into the third inning.
Once the bats started going, Webb’s got hot at the plate by putting up four runs in the third, six in the fourth to take the lead and two more in the fifth for what turned out to be the game-winning runs.
&uot;We started slow,&uot; Farmer said. &uot;But once they got started, they hit it. The middle of the order and the bottom of the order was outstanding.&uot;
Webb’s Furniture got started in the third when Brandon
Ross lined a shot to left field that turned into a two-run home run to score Chris Angles to cut the lead to 6-2. Quinton Logan singled with one out, and Patrick Washington followed with a slow roller in front of the plate that got him to first and eventually all the way home for two more runs.
In the fourth Mark Iles led off with a single and scored on a Turner Lessley triple. Angles then singled in Lessley to tie it up at 6-6, and Ross followed with a triple to score Lessley and give Webb’s its first lead of the game.
Logan, Washington and Tyler Longmire then each drove in a run for a 10-6 lead heading into the fifth inning.
UMB got six in the first when it sent the maximum nine batters to the plate, and each of the first six batters to the plate scored. Alan Doyle singled in two runs.
But Webb’s got a couple of breaks in the middle innings to help turn the momentum. IN the third Ben Hewitt led off with a single, but a hard grounder off the bat of Doyle found Lessley, who tagged tagged out Hewitt and stepped on first for an unassisted double play.
Then in the fourth UMB loaded the bases with no outs but came away empty. Pitcher Cameron Farmer tagged out a runner heading to home for one of the outs.
&uot;I think it was real big,&uot; Webb’s coach Bruce Ross said. &uot;When he turned (that double play), that kind of took the air out of them a little bit. And they didn’t score (in the fourth).&uot;
Give UMB credit for not lying down as it hammered out three runs in the fifth to cut the lead to 10-9. Hewitt singled in Justin Allgood for the first run, and an Edwin Byrne singled scored Josh Brown to trim the lead to 10-8. Blair Eidt then singled in Hewitt to close the gap to one run.
Webb’s Furniture got two in the fifth as a single from Ross scored Christian Wroten and Lessley for the 12-9 lead.
In the sixth for UMB, Will Thornton singled with one out and scored on an Allgood single. But Allgood was left on first and Phillip Tyra on second when the game ended