Teams just don’t go out and score 18 runs and throw a no-hitter against one of the best teams in the South.

But most teams aren’t like the Natchez 13-year-old All-Stars.

The Mississippi state champions shutout Virginia 18-0 as Timmy Foster and Clay Floyd combined for five innings of no-hit baseball in the first round of the Dixie Boys World Series in Sulphur, La.

Natchez will play Texas tonight at 8 p.m. The game will be broadcast on WNAT-1450AM.

The outcome was exactly what coach Tim Foster wanted from his ballclub.

&uot;We talked about in the hotel room that we wanted to jump on the other team,&uot; Foster said. He added that two important things happened: substitutes got some game action, and he saved his pitching. &uot;Everything worked out the way we planned it.&uot;

Mississippi scored in every inning in the win. The club tallied one run a piece in the first and second innings and three in the third to take a 5-0 lead.

Then the hometowners erupted for 10 runs in the fourth.

Benji Maher accounted for four runs in the inning, as he slapped a double that scored two runs and a triple that pushed two runners across.

Chris Seeger drove in three runs with a double to left field. The three other runs in the inning came via bases loaded walks.

&uot;We hit from the start and just didn’t stop,&uot; Foster said.

Foster threw three innings with four strikeouts to get the win. Floyd pitched the other two innings, striking out one batter.

&uot;We did what we needed to do,&uot; said Floyd. &uot;We made a good statement.&uot;

Many fans came made the trip from Natchez to Sulphur, which is about a four-hour drive.

&uot;The crowd had a no-hitter tonight,&uot; Foster said of all the fans that attended the game.