SULPHUR, La. — The Concordia 14-year-old All-Stars used timely hitting and solid pitching to get off to a good start at the state tournament as they defeated Gonzales 6-2 Saturday morning.
Winning pitcher Sam Parker and Pate Shirley combined to limit Gonzales to just five hits in the game. Parker gave up one run on three hits, struck out four and walked one in three innings. Shirley also went three innings and allowed one run on two hits with one walk.
“A real good showing by our pitching staff (this morning),” Concordia 14s head coach James Thomas said. “We almost played flawless defense.”
Shirley helped his cause by going 2-for-4, including an inside-the-park home run in the top of the fourth inning. Carson Curtis went 2-for-2 with a triple and J.J. Jenkins had an RBI double in the top of the fifth.
“We hit the ball real well,” Thomas said.
Natchez 11-12s 10, Humphreys County 0
HATTIESBURG — Ben Foster and Ben White combined on a two-hit shutout with 12 strikeouts as the Natchez Dixie Youth 11- and 12-year-old All-Stars defeated the Humphreys County All-Stars in four innings Saturday morning at the state tournament.
After being victimized for five home runs in a loss to Purvis Friday afternoon, Natchez responded with three home runs of its own in the win over Humphreys County. Alex McCready blasted two home runs and Trey Davis had a home run of his own.
“We started out the bats were slow the first inning. After that, everybody on the team started hitting the ball,” Natchez 11-12s assistant coach David Lindsey said.
McCready was the team’s only multiple hitter as he went 2-for-2. Jakel Barnes, Tyler Lindsey and Conner Murray each had a double.
Foster allowed two hits, struck out 10 batters and walked two in three innings to pick the win. White struck out two and gave up no runs, no hits and no walks.
“We had outstanding pitching out of Ben Foster and Ben White. That seemed to pump the boys up a bit,” Lindsey said.
The Natchez Dixie Youth 11-12s had another game Saturday as they await the loser of the Hattiesburg/Lincoln County game at 7:30 p.m.
Franklin Parish 8, Concordia 14s 5
SULPHUR, La. — The second game of the day for the Concordia 14-year-old All-Stars didn’t turn out as well as their first game as they lost to the Franklin Parish All-Stars Saturday afternoon.
After rallying to defeat East Ouachita earlier in the afternoon, the Franklin Parish All-Stars could have easily ran out of momentum after scoring six runs in the seventh inning for an 11-10 win. Instead, they stayed right with the Concordia 14s until pulling away in the sixth inning.
“We hit the ball, but we hit the ball right to somebody. Then we fell apart in the top of the sixth inning. They scored three runs on us because of errors,” Concordia 14s head coach James Thomas said.
Those three runs turned a 5-4 lead for Franklin Parish into an 8-4 advantage. The Concordia 14s managed just one run in the bottom of the sixth.
Starting pitcher Craig Bradley allowed five runs in five innings to take the loss. Sam Parker gave up three runs on just one hit, but he also walked three batters to go with two strikeouts in one inning. Bradley also went 2-for-3 with an inside-the-park home run in the bottom of the third inning.
“He (Bradley) pitched a very, very good game. It really wasn’t his fault that we lost,” Thomas said.
The Concordia 14s take on the winner of the Ruston/DeRidder game in an elimination game at 11:30 a.m. today.
Hattiesburg 4, Natchez 11-12s 3
HATTIESBURG — Both Ben Foster and Ben White pitched well enough to give the Natchez Dixie Youth 11- and 12-year-old All-Stars a chance to defeat the Hattiesburg All-Stars Saturday night and stay in the state tournament.
The problem was that the Natchez 11-12s could not get the key base hits when they needed them  — with runners in scoring position. And that proved to be the difference as Hattiesburg held on for the win and giving the Natchez 11-12s their second loss and eliminating them from the tournament.
“Actually, this was one of the better games we played in,” Natchez 11-12s assistant coach David Lindsey said. “We pitched well. We hit the ball well. We stranded a lot of men on base.”
The Natchez 11s and 12s had the bases loaded twice during the game, but were unable to get any of those runners in. Hunter Carroll hit a solo home run in the top of the third inning and Trey Davis had a double.
Foster was charged with the loss after giving up four runs on five hits while striking out eight and walking just one in three innings. White held Hattiesburg to just three hits with six strikeouts and one walk in three innings.
Lindsey said the Natchez 11s and 12s ended up finishing ninth at state out of 16 teams.