STARKVILLE — The Columbus High School baseball team used a six-run sixth inning and a stellar outing from pitcher Christian Dale to top Starkville High 8-2 on Tuesday night.
The Falcons (7-4, 1-0 Class 6A, Region 2) received a two-run home run from senior Nick Durrah in the second and RBI hits from Aaron Cooks and Trace Lee in the sixth to turn a 2-2 tie into an 8-2 lead.
Durrah was 2-for-3 with two RBIs to lead the Falcons to their first win in a district opener in four years.
Dale (3-1) scattered six hits in seven innings and struck out nine. He turned up the heat after giving up two runs and three hits in the bottom of the fifth. Dale struck out four of the next six he faced and watched his defense close the game with a 6-4-3 double play, which sealed the fourth three-up, three-down inning of the game.
“Couldn”t ask for anything better,” Durrah said.
Dale, a sophomore, led a strong performance by Columbus underclassmen, finishing with 88 pitches and showing no signs of fatigue in the later innings.
Columbus received a RBI hit from Chris McCullough and a two-RBI single from Lee, who started the final double play and made a brilliant put out off a ricocheted ball.
“That”s what we”ve been missing coming through, classes that when they were little have played a lot of baseball,” Columbus coach Jeffrey Cook said. “These guys did great in their first district game.”
Starkville starting pitcher Nathan Pugh was effective in the absence of suspended pitchers Shaquille Hill and Nick Brooks, the Yellow Jackets” first options on the mound.
Pugh gave up two runs on five hits in five innings. He struck out six and walked two. But Pugh suffered a leg cramp in his push leg in the fourth, which contributed to control problems in the fifth.
“You don”t want to take a chance with an injury,” Starkville coach Danny Carlisle said. “We”re gonna have him down the road.”
Starkville (3-4, 0-1) ran into trouble when Wesley Montgomery entered the game in relief. He gave up all of Columbus” runs in the sixth.
Still, Carlisle bemoaned his team”s errors and how it helped Columbus score, citing a passed ball and an error that helped load the bases in the sixth.
“They score six, but we should have gotten out with two runs,” Carlisle said. “You”re down 4-2, and it”s a whole lot different how you play with six outs. Down six, you just gotta swing and hope you can do some things.”
Durrah”s third-inning bomb cleared the scoreboard in left field by 15 feet and sparked Columbus.
“I was just protecting the plate,” Durrah said. “I did my best. I think he threw a changeup, and I was almost out in front of it, but I caught it.”
The Yellow Jackets broke through with a two-out RBI single from Jordan Allgood in the bottom of the third, which came after the Falcons gave up two extra bases via passed ball.
Starkville pulled even in the bottom of the fourth on an RBI single from Garrett Batson, but the Yellow Jackets could have made more of the inning. Starkville had runners on the corners with no outs to start the inning but saw courtesy runner Hayden Higginbotham gunned down at home after a failed double-steal situation. Batson was thrown out trying to steal third.
“For whatever reason, baserunning mistakes all night,” Carlisle said. “Then we score one run twice. We had enough errors to put three on the board. This is my job: I got to find out what makes these guys click. We”re just not communicating well.”
Even though Dale allowed three hits in the fourth, Cook decided to leave him in the game. The move paid off as Dale got out of the fourth without further damage and struck out two of his next three in the fifth. Cook hailed his sophomore for his efficiency and how comfortable he makes his teammates play.
“Even when he got 3-0, I think three times, he works it back and got his outs,” Cook said. “The hits were here and there, and the defense made some big plays. That just sets the tone.”
Columbus will play host to Starkville at 6 p.m. Friday.
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