NATCHEZ &045; When things go from bad to worse, that’s when Natchez High’s Bulldogs show some grit.

As least it sometimes seems that way.

Staring a 10-0 deficit in the face Monday against Adams County, the Bulldogs put up six runs in their last at-bat before falling 10-6 to the Rebels in just their third game this summer.

Much like the end of the spring season, the Bulldogs found a spark but couldn’t overcome a slow start.

&uot;We don’t do anything until the end,&uot; NHS head coach Charlie Williams said. &uot;We’re coming to the end of the season, and we start swinging the bat. This is something for us to build on. They always have a good team. I was impressed.&uot;

The rally came in the Bulldogs’ last at-bat before the game was called after six innings. The Rebels got three innings on the mound from Douglas Davis before going with Matt Parson for the last three, and they quickly converted a 3-0 lead into a 10-0 cushion heading into the fifth inning.

&uot;Glenn (Williams) threw yesterday in Jackson, and I was wanting to use him and Doug today,&uot; AC head coach Gill Morris said. &uot;Matt got some balls up, and give Natchez High credit. They swung the bats. Matt has a good curveball. He was dropping his elbow some. We should have been out of the inning. We had a dropped pop-up and a missed tag at third, and that kept him throwing some more pitches.&uot;

Parson retired Jonathon Knight to start the inning before the Bulldogs strung together six straight hits. Joseph Hayes’ single put Matthew Henderson for the first run, and Keymond Williams’ double brought home Knight &045; pinch-running for Drew Kossum &045; for the second before he scored on a Charles Cothern single.

Marcus Washington’s single scored Hayes, and the dropped fly ball put Cothern at third base before he scored on a wild pitch to cut the lead to 10-5. Byron Jones’ sacrifice fly scored Washington before Knight grounded out to end the inning.

&uot;We’re making some headway on (hitting curveballs),&uot; Charlie Williams said. &uot;But we still have a long way to go. The key to the curveball is recognizing rotation. They recognize pitches, and that’s our problem. We’re not picking anything up. We swung at some bad ones and could have had some walks. But this is a pretty young group we have here.&uot;

The rally made the loss a little easier to take after the Rebels pounded out seven runs in the fourth to take a 10-0 lead off starter Joseph Hayes. David Alton New sparked it with a two-run single to score David Trisler and Glenn Williams, and New scored when Douglas Davis launched one over the left-field fence.

Hayes then got the second out and struck out Jamie Morris, but the pitch got past the catcher and allowed Morris to reach base instead of getting out of the inning. So the Rebels took advantage as Brian Smith singled in Morris before the sacks were loaded for Matt Marchbanks, whose infield single off reliever Kossum scored Smith.

&uot;He hasn’t pitched in two years,&uot; Charlie Williams said of Hayes. &uot;We figured we might let him pitch and get his lumps. Last year I didn’t use but Drew and Matthew. Joey pitched a good game. We gave him a couple extra outs, and that’s the thing that hurt him. That (strikeout) was the one that really hurt us. It would have been a little closer than it ended up if we would have come in and hit the ball like we did.&uot;

The Rebels hit the ball well from the start with a quick 3-0 lead thanks to a two-run homer from Timmy Foster following a Glenn Williams double.

&uot;Timmy has hit four homers in three games,&uot; Gill Morris said. &uot;Timmy is a good hitter and does a real good job. If the pitcher gets behind, he’s a strong kid with a quick bat who knows the strike zone. He gets his money’s worth when he gets up there.&uot;