Editor’s Note: Additional coverage of this game will appear in Monday’s Dispatch.
The opportunities were there.
When you’re playing against a two-time reigning champion, chances like the New Hope High School baseball team had Saturday night against Oxford don’t come too often.
New Hope had the bases loaded four times in the first five innings in Game 2 of its the best-of-three Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) Class 5A North State playoff series at Trojan Field.
Unfortunately, New Hope couldn’t push home enough runners in those situations to avoid a season-ending 11-5 loss.
Oxford (31-5) advances to face Pearl River Central, which beat Hattiesburg in three games, for the Class 5A State title. Game 1 of that best-of-three series will be at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Trustmark Park in Pearl.
Five errors also contributed to a defeat that saw New Hope’s season end at 21-14.
Oxford scored in every inning but the seventh. The Chargers scored two runs in the first, one in the second, three in the third, one in the fourth, three in the fifth, and another in the sixth to beat the Trojans for the fourth time in five meetings this season.
Oxford beat New Hope 5-4 in Game 1 Thursday in Oxford. Game 2 originally was scheduled to be played Friday night in Columbus, but rain forced the game to be pushed to Saturday night.
New Hope (21-14) answered Oxford with two runs in the bottom of the first. But the inning could have been much bigger after Thomas Stevens, Tyler Murphy, Drew Pounders, and Nick Sims opened with hits. Back-to-back fielder’s choices to the pitcher erased what could have been a momentum-seizing response to the top half of the inning.
New Hope also loaded the bases in the third, fourth, and fifth. The Trojans capitalized on three hit batters to score three runs in the fourth, but Duncan Graeber answered with a two-run home run in the fifth to help the Chargers take the momentum back.
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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