MENDENHALL — The Starkville Academy baseball team might replay some of the final moments from the last three innings of their game against Simpson Academy on Tuesday night.
But the Volunteers don’t have long to dwell in the past because they will need to rebound with two wins if they want to make it to the next round of the postseason.
Sam McWilliams had two run-scoring hits, including a three-run, walk-off home run, to lift Simpson Academy to a 7-5 victory against Starkville Academy in Game 1 of the best-of-three Mississippi Association of Independent Schools Class AAA second-round playoff series.
“I was super pleased with my team for staying in this game and not getting too low,” Simpson Academy coach Adam Evans said. “They scored four runs and would have been easy to shut everything down. We had two big home runs. I am proud of my guys for competing the entire game.”
After a four-run rally in the fifth inning, McWilliams started what turned out to be the final at-bat with a swinging strike. He then measured a fastball high in the strike zone and lined the baseball over the left-field fence. His blast brought home Mathew Harrison and Hook Harvey, who reached on a walk and bunt single.
“(Sam) is an extremely talented and special player,” Evans said. “He can bring the heat on the mound, and he has speed on the base path. He is a spark on the team. His teammates look for him to make the plays, and he usually doesn’t disappoint.”
Luke Templeton, who salvaged the Volunteers’ lead in the fifth and sixth in relief, took the loss.
“We can’t walk hitters we should get out at the plate,” Starkville Academy coach Jarrod Parks said. “We left pitches up in the zone we shouldn’t have left there. We pitched a lot of good innings. However, we messed up a bunt single, especially in a playoff atmosphere, and we didn’t get those people out we should have at the bottom of the lineup.”
The Volunteers, who won Class AAA, District 2 in the regular season and drew a first-round bye, eased to a five-run advantage off four errors. Drake Gordman and Carter Roach led off the game with a walk and a single. Two outs later, a fielding error by third baseman Mark Jeffrey Hubbard allowed two runs to score.
Starkville Academy (19-5) cracked the scoreboard again in the fourth. Three errors, two fielding and one throwing, helped Howell Archer and Will Miller score. Kyle Faver had an RBI double to left field.
“Baserunning was huge in tonight’s game. We were extremely aggressive,” Parks said. “We stole some runs from them on their errors. When you’re not hitting, we needed the baserunning. We just didn’t come out on top, and that’s the way the game goes sometimes.”
Starting pitcher Caleb Griffin defended the lead with four scoreless innings. He didn’t allow a hit in that stretch and struck out three. The right-hander retired eight straight after a leadoff walk in the first and didn’t let any Cougars get further than second base.
But Simpson Academy (17-9) broke up thanks to two walks and a two-run triple by McWilliams, who thrashed a hanging curveball into right-center field with two outs. Triston Cowan followed with a two-run home run to left.
Templeton secured the final out of the inning with a called third strike to help Starkville Academy keep a 5-4 lead after the fifth. The hard-throwing reliever struck out the side in the sixth, but the Volunteers couldn’t capitalize.
Parks, who is in his first season as the head coach, wants his team to forget the loss. He also wanted the two-plus hour bus ride home to be as short as possible.
“We broke it down and this game is done,” Parks said. “We are going to practice (Wednesday). We are in survival mode from here on out. My guys need to be ready for anything. In an elimination game, anybody can receive the call to pitch or hit.”
The best-of-three series returns to Starkville on Thursday evening. The Volunteers will play host to Game 2 at 4 p.m. If needed, Game 3 will follow approximately 30 minutes after the first game.
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