NATCHEZ — Three local high school players made the most of opportunities to put their baseball talents on display for the District 7 all-star team in the State Games of Mississippi baseball tournament.

Cathedral High School’s Craig Bradley and Zack Flattmann and Franklin County High School’s Jacob McDaniel played four games in last week’s tournament. The District 7 squad went 2-2 Both losses were at the hands of the eventual tournament champions, District 4.

District 7 beat District 8 Tuesday, 2-0. Rain forced the team to play three games Thursday. The trio beat District 1 9-1, and fell to District 4 8-1 and 6-5 on a walk off base hit.

“I’m glad I was able to do it,” Bradley said. “It was a good experience. Hopefully I got my name out there a little more.”

Bradley said he had approximately 11 to 12 plate appearances and recorded two hits with a handful of walks.

Bradley said he didn’t expect to get that many chances at the plate on the 18-man all-star team.

“I got two hits, but I walked a couple times and hit some hard balls right at people,” Bradley said.

Cathedral’s senior second baseman said he thought he was sharpest on defense.

“I did well defensively,” Bradley said. “I made all the routine plays.”

McDaniel was told after the tryout that his primary role was one of the team’s pitchers. He started one game, a complete game of 6.0 innings, allowing just two hits.

McDaniel said he met his goal he set for himself regarding pitching in the tournament.

“I was really consistent with my fastball and changeup,” McDaniel said. “I threw a lot of strikes and that’s what my main focus was.”

Flattmann, who made the team primarily as a first baseman, played three innings at first base and two behind the plate. Flattmann was satisfied with his eight solid plate appearances, and he was surprised but eager to be able to man his regular post behind the dish.

“I didn’t play much defense, most (designated hitter) for the pitchers,” Flattmann said. “I started playing first at the showcase, and (coach Tyler Cunnginham) said, ‘You’re going to do both (first base and catcher) right?’ … I’ll tell you, I didn’t know what to think at first, but there was some great competition there.”

Bradley and McDaniel had the same to say regarding the amount of talent in the statewide all-star game. Both players said they valued the experience from the game and the opportunity to network with players they were only loosely acquainted with prior.

Players also benefited from the exposure the tournament provided. McDaniel said the spectators in the stands were mostly college scouts, approximately 15 to 20 per game.

“It was pretty tough competition,” he said.

Flattmann said he was impressed by the job the team’s coaches did, managing a crew that was stitched together with players from different schools in the district.

“Our coaches pulled it together really well,” Flattmann said. “They got us all together afterwards and said, ‘I love how you guys didn’t know each other, but we played like an experienced team.’”