NATCHEZ — A deflated Craig Beesley watched Smithville third baseman Micah McCain dive on a Jacob Jenkins ground ball, contort his body and throw to first base from his knees for the final out of a 6-1 Smithville victory in Game 1 of the MHSAA Class 1A State Championship.

Unfortunately for Beesley, who has coached his team to a 23-7 record this season, his frustrating morning began much earlier, as the Cathedral hitters failed to make adjustments at the plate against Smithville’s Tyler Hood.

“We had the same swing for an 0-2 pitch as we did for 2-0 pitches,” Beesley said. “I’m disappointed in the mental aspect of it. We’ve got to make adjustments if we’re going to get back into this series.”

Hood finished the game with just two strikeouts but only allowed one run given up in seven innings pitched. The combination of his location in the strike zone and an error-free, defensive showcase behind him limited Cathedral’s offensive production.

“We kept them off balance today,” said Smithville head coach Stephen Kerr. “Tyler was a bulldog out there, and we played great defense behind him.”

Cathedral’s Pate Shirley started the game and pitched three innings, giving up two earned runs. Smithville gained an early 1-0 in the first inning after McCain hit an RBI double to score Austin Craig, who reached base after Shirley accidentally beaned him.

Smithville extended its lead in the second inning when Cathedral committed an infield error that allowed the inning to continue. The Seminoles made the Green Wave pay with an RBI single by Blake Comer.

Cathedral scored its only run in the bottom of the second. After Shirley led off the inning with a double, Brock Farmer singled Alex Weadock, who pinch ran for Shirley, over to third base. Jenkins hit a sacrifice fly to right field, and after Weadock outfoxed the right fielder by running halfway between home and third base, pretending to run back to third, Smithville’s Cole Williams tested his arm by throwing to third base. Weadock took advantage and crossed home plate.

“I met (Williams) immediately after the inning and let him have it,” Kerr said. “We have to put our egos aside and play defense.”

That’s exactly what the Seminoles did for the rest of the game, not allowing any more runs and taking advantage of a Cathedral base running blunder. The self-imposed blunder erased a leadoff double Sam Parker had in the bottom of the fourth.

That didn’t make things easier for him, as he came in to relieve Shirley with Cathedral down 3-1 in the fourth. Two Cathedral errors didn’t do him or Shirley any favors as well.

Beesley said his team was never able to get comfortable, fighting jitters throughout the contest.

“Hopefully we got rid of most of that today, and we’ll come back better tomorrow,” Beesley said. “We certainly came out tight.”

Smithville scored three runs on Parker to extend its lead to five, two runs in the fourth on sacrifice fly’s and another in the fifth, stemming from a misfire on a double play opportunity that would have ended the inning.

Beesley said Thomas Garrity would start Game 3 despite not being fully recovered from Monday’s 1-0, seven-inning outing against Stringer High School. Beesley knows it’s critical for Garrity to continue his 20 scoreless-inning streak in the early goings of the contest, but it’s even more crucial for the Green Wave bats to come alive.

“He’ll give us a chance to win, but if we don’t put runs on the board, we’re not going to be victorious,” Beesley said.

Kerr said Smithville’s schedule has put his team in a position to bring home the state championship today in Game 2, which beings at 10 a.m. No major adjustments will be made for the Seminoles, despite Cathedral sending its ace who’s given up two runs in 32 postseason innings to the mound.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re throwing it 100 or 50, our approach is going to be the same at the plate,” Kerr said. “If you look at our schedule, you’ll see that we played some great teams and saw some great pitchers. We just have to change our timing a little bit, but our approach is the same.”