The playoffs will start a little early for the Columbus and Starkville high school baseball teams.
Thanks to Tupelo High School”s 11-3 victory against Columbus and Starkville High School”s 14-4 victory against South Panola on Friday, the Class 6A, Division 2, District 4 race will begin to get sorted out this week.
First up, Columbus will play host to Starkville at 6 p.m. Tuesday in a game that could be an elimination game for the loser.
Columbus and South Panola are tied at 2-4 in the district, while Starkville is at 3-3 behind Tupelo (5-1). The top two teams from each district will advance to the playoffs.
Columbus and Starkville have split the first two meetings this season.
Tupelo used a 15-hit attack Friday to push Columbus (10-10) into a must-win situation with three games remaining in the district.
Christian Dale (2-3) took the loss Friday. He pitched the first five innings and allowed three runs in the first, two on a two-run home run by Collin Dexter.
The Falcons answered with two runs in the bottom half of the inning on an RBI triple by Nick Durrah and an RBI single by Josh Tentoni.
Tupelo added a run in the third, but Columbus answered with an RBI single by Stefan Hairston in the bottom half of the inning.
But Tupelo capitalized on a fielding error that helped it score two runs in the fourth. Columbus had a chance to answer in the bottom half of the inning with the bases loaded, but third baseman Brandon Reddout made a diving stop on a groundball by Dale and recorded the final out.
“That fourth inning was huge,” Columbus coach Jeffrey Cook said. “But we”re still alive. Whoever wins Tuesday night is set to move on. We just have to play, and our big-time players have to step up and make the big play when it is their time.”
Tupelo added two runs in the sixth and three more in the seventh for the final margin.
On Saturday, Columbus rebounded quickly, scoring 14 runs in the bottom of the first inning en route to a 25-2 victory against Noxubee County.
Durrah was 3-for-3 with a double, a home run, and five RBIs, Tyji Hawkins had a grand slam, and Aurby Burdine had a three-run double. Avery Ford and Martavious McKinney also had RBI singles.
Tentoni, in his first start of the season, threw four no-hit innings to get the victory He walked two and struck out five.
Lequintray Sherrod broke up the no-hit bid with a single in the fifth. Danarius Hunt had a single and an RBI, and Kamal Chamberlain also had a hit in the inning.
n Starkville 14, South Panola 4: At Batesville, Chuck Tillery had four hits, and Nathan Pugh had four RBIs to back the pitching of Nick Brooks to help the Yellow Jackets improve to 10-4.
Brooks pitched into the sixth inning to get the victory.
Blake Dawkins also had two hits and three RBIs, R.J. Johnson had three hits, and Cody Berryhill had two hits.
n Hamilton 4, Hatley 0: At Hamilton, Brandon Fikes threw a complete-game three-hitter to help the Lions improve to 13-2 and 6-0 in Class 2A, Region 2, District 1.
Fikes (2-0) walked one and struck out five. He received hitting support from Chase Reeves, who had an RBI triple, and Graham Pitchett, who had two singles.
Nathan Cockerham also had a single and an RBI for the district leaders.
Hamilton plays at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at East Webster and at 6:30 p.m. Friday at West Lowndes.
Softball
n South Lamar goes unbeaten in classic: At Vernon, Ala., the South Lamar High School softball team won all four games it played in the Lamar County Bulldog Classic.
South Lamar beat Gordo 6-2 and Pickens County 15-0 in three innings Friday and defeated Caledonia 5-0 and Northridge 14-0 in four innings Saturday.
South Lamar pitchers allowed only five hits in the four games. Kendra Wilson (4-3) allowed one hit against Gordo, Hannah Cox (4-1) gave up one hits against Pickens County, and Laken Hancock (10-2) pitched a one-hitter against Caledonia and two-hitter against Northridge.
Caledonia”s only hit was a single by Hope Burton in the third inning.
The victories extended South Lamar”s winning streak to 14 in a row and improved its record to 18-6.
South Lamar”s leading hitters against Gordo were Kacy Holsonback with a double and two singles, Sam Trull with two singles and three RBIs, and Karoline Holsonback with two singles and two RBIs.
The leading hitters against Pickens County were Hancock and Wilson with a double and single each, Peyton Moss with two singles and an RBI, and Blake Hardin with two singles.
The leading hitters against Caledonia were Trull with a two-run homer in the third inning and Karoline Holsonback with twwo singles.
Cara Hopper suffer the loss on the pitcher rubber for Caledonia.
The leading hitters against Northridge were Karoline Holsonback with two homers and five RBIs, Trull with three singles and three RBIs, and Hancock and Kacy Holsonback with three singles each.
South Lamar”s next game is against Parrish in Millport, Ala., on Monday.
Golf
n New Hope wins tri-meet: New Hope High School”s Austin Fitch and Caledonia”s Evan McElrath each shot 38 on Friday to share medalist honors at Green Oaks.
New Hope (164) edged Caledonia (169) for the team victory.
Chase Taylor (39), Blake King (43), and Chaz Robinson (44) also scored for the Trojans.
Colt Wallace (42), Zc Taylor (43), and Lindsey House (46) also scored for the Confederates.
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