New Hope High School carried a region championship and tons of momentum into the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 5A baseball playoffs.
The battle-tested squad sure did not need any additional help from Lake Cormorant.
Still, the Gators were at Trojan Field Thursday night in a Christmas Day gift-giving style of mood.
New Hope received seven walks, three hit batsman, a wild pitched third strike and an error. That is before adding eight base hits to the tally sheet.
The bevy of base runners sent the Trojans to a 14-3, five-inning win in the opening game of a first-round best-of-three series.
The teams meet again at 7 tonight at Lake Cormorant. If needed, the third game is at 7 Saturday night at New Hope.
“It feels really good to get the first one,” New Hope junior catcher Tee Payne said. “Now, we have to go up there in a hostile environment and play this way again. We don’t want to have to play any third games.”
It is hard to imagine a major reversal of fortunes when the series resumes.
“We were really disciplined tonight,” New Hope coach Lee Boyd said. “We teach our kids to be aggressive, but aggressive inside the strike zone.
“I thought our patience tonight was good. When we got the runners on, we had some great base hits.”
Several of those base hits belonged to winning pitcher Landon Boyd. The talented junior scattered six hits in throwing a complete game. Offensively, Boyd aided his own cause with three hits, including two doubles, and four RBIs.
“We want to the win the state championship, so this is the first step,” Landon Boyd said. “I thought the defense was great behind me. They have done that all year. The defense has been really great.
“In the last couple of weeks, we have hit the ball better. You can see that we are becoming a well-rounded team.”
Coach Boyd felt like his offensive improvement over the final two weeks of the regular season could pay dividends in the postseason.
“My only real concern was the fact that we were off a week, due to having a bye in the playoffs,” Coach Boyd said.
“You never really know how a team is going to respond to that.
“That being said. We really swung the bats really well the last couple of weeks of the season. We had 13 runs in our final regular-season game and you saw that carry over to tonight.”
After a region loss to West Point in late March, New Hope regrouped to win seven of its final nine regular season games to take the region title.
“I think you are seeing us playing with some confidence right now,” New Hope sophomore shortstop Will Golsan said. “Whenever we are playing at home, we play with more confidence. That is why it was important to open this series at home and get it started on the right foot.”
New Hope struck quickly with five runs in the first inning. The Trojans started a theme in that at-bat with five runs on only three base hits.
An inning later, the four-run second-inning involved just two hits and the five-run third inning happened on one base hit.
Lake Cormorant issued back-to-back bases loaded walks in that at-bat before Boyd’s gapper to the outfield wall cleared the bases and moved the team into run-rule territory.
“We were taking what they were giving us,” Golsan said. “You could tell they were struggling to find a rhythm. The coaches told us to be patient and to wait for the right pitch.
“Walks can sometimes help a team win as much as base hits.”
Back-to-back hit batsman set New Hope up in the first inning. After those two runners reached, New Hope ripped off four straight hits. Only one ball left the infield in the first inning but the hosts led 5-0.
The Gators struck for two scores in the second inning. Boyd was tagged for an RBI-single by Hunter Henson, prior to the guests scoring on a double steal attempt.
The rally was short lived as three walks loaded the bases in the second inning. Dusty Dyson unloaded them with a double down the left field line. Boyd also had a double in that at-bat.
“We came out aggressive in the first inning,” Payne said. “We were running the bases at will. Landon pitched well. We know how important the first inning is when he is on the mound.
“If we can go out there and have a good start, it makes things a lot easier.”
Dyson had two of New Hope’s eight hits and also drove in four runs.
Now, the challenge is to road trip and repeat this feat. If New Hope can do that, either Starkville or Center Hill awaits in the next round.
“Coach told us all year it is now about how you start, it is about how you finish,” Payne said. “He told us he wanted us to get hot in time for the playoffs. Our big win on Senior Night carried over to this win tonight.
“Now, it is important to win the next game. Our goal is the state championship and Coach tells us all the time to take it one game at a time.”
Coach Boyd also likes the mind-set of his team headed into the next contest.
“Everybody wants to be hot at the right time,” Coach Boyd said. “I think we have picked the right time to pick our game up.”
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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