By Garrett Kroeger

The Natchez Democrat

Natchez High School senior Jatavis Melton thought he just hit a triple until he saw coach Dan Smith’s arm go right. Then off Melton went for home.

Safe. Melton just scored an inside-the-park home run.

“I knew I was going to make it when he told me to go,” Melton said. “When (the West Lincoln player) put his head down (my coach) told me to go because he wasn’t looking. My coach knew I was going to beat (the throw) out.”

Melton’s dynamic hit in the third inning extended the Bulldogs lead over West Lincoln by three runs. But, his impact on the game wasn’t done yet.

Later in the fourth, Melton jacked a three-run home run over the left field wall to put the blue and yellow up by five runs.

“(Melton) was rolling,” Smith said. “I was proud of him. Lately he has been pressing. I told him to relax a bit and he would be all right.”

Despite Melton’s strong offensive night — he finished the night 2-of-3, three runs, two home runs, and four RBIs — Natchez still had to sweat out the victory Tuesday night at Chester Willis Field as the Bulldogs only won by one run, 7-6.

In the fifth, sixth and seventh innings, West Lincoln was able to score five runs on Natchez after only scoring one run during the first half of the ball game. The Bulldogs allowed the opposition to make the contest close due to a mixture of errors and loss of focus. However, Smith had complete faith in his team to finish the game out strong.

“I didn’t think we were going to lose,” Smith said. “I knew we were going to fight. I know that I have a team of fighters. I wasn’t really worried about it. I just wanted to make sure they stayed up and continued to stay up, but I wasn’t worried about giving up the game. They were going to fight until the end.”

While Melton’s performance propelled and ensured the Bulldogs’ their third win of the season (3-2 overall), it was senior Tra Davis’ pitching that set the tone for the game in Smith’s eyes.

“(Davis) is my workhorse,” Smith said. “I wanted him to go the whole game, but it’s a cold night. So that’s why I pulled him, but he did a wonderful job as always.”

Smith said he wishes Davis could have gone all seven innings to save senior Shavoké Herrington’s arm for Thursday’s matchup against Cathedral School. But in the five innings Davis did pitch, he did exactly what was asked of him.

Davis ran the plate and threw strikes as he struck out six batters, and even though Davis’ Tuesday stat line also read eight hits and five runs given up, Smith credits those to the Bulldogs’ defense miscues.

“He did exactly what I asked of him,” Smith said.

While Davis earned praise from his coach, he also earned praise from his teammates.

“He did a great job,” Melton said. “I told him to stay cool and throw strikes and we will win the game. He did that, and we won.”

With the win Tuesday, the Bulldogs now sit above .500 and their confidence is high heading into their next game against the Green Wave.

“Easy W, that’s how I feel about it,” Melton said. “Easy W.”