RIDGELAND — The New Hope High School used two three-run doubles Saturday night to beat Ridgeland 9-4 in game one of the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 5A North State semifinals.
“We put some balls in play and we stole a base or two,” New Hope coach Lee Boyd said. “We played well. They have a good team and it is going to be a tough series. In the first couple of innings, we couldn’t get the big hit. In the later innings, we were able to get the big hit with runners on base.”
Payton Lane had the first two-run double to give New Hope (22-8) a 4-3 lead. The Trojans capitalized on an error to keep the inning alive. Ridgeland couldn’t complete a force play at second base on a ground ball by Rooke Coleman. The throw to second base pulled the fielder off the base.
In the seventh inning, Lane executed a sacrifice bunt that helped set the stage for a three-run double by Austin Oswalt that gave New Hope a 9-3 lead.
Will Golsan made the insurance runs stand up despite giving up a run in the bottom half of the inning. The junior came on in the third inning in relief of J.C. Redden and pitched the rest of the game to get the victory.
Golsan paced the hitting attack with two singles and a double. Taylor Stafford had a single and a double, Tee Payne and Coleman had singles, and Parker Earhart had two singles.
Game two will be at 7 p.m. Monday in Columbus. If needed, game three will be at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Ridgeland. The winner will advance to face the winner of the Oxford-Hernando series for the North State title.
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