When the final out was recorded at Trojan Field Friday night, the New Hope High School baseball team would gladly have accepted a do-over.
Instead, the Trojans could only be offered two more chances to make things right.
After a lackluster 8-3 loss to Mooreville in the Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) Class 4A playoffs, New Hope bounced back with a 9-4 win at Mooreville Saturday night.
The best-of-three first-round series will be settled at 7 Monday night in New Hope.
New Hope rarely loses home games but Friday night was a tough night for the home team.
For Mooreville (18-10), junior Will Armistead was able to quiet the Trojans’ bats.
Armistead went the distance, allowing five hits and three runs (one earned).
New Hope built a 2-0 lead in the second inning. The big blow was an RBI-double by Rye McGlothin. However, two walks and a hit batsman by the Troopers set the table.
In the third inning, New Hope (24-5) loaded the bases with no outs thanks to an error, hit batsman and single by Drew Pounders.
After Armistead worked out of that tight spot, New Hope did not mount another threat until Tyler Murphy launched a massive home run to left field in the seventh inning.
New Hope sophomore pitcher Ryan Burt faced the minimum through three innings.
After Mooreville scratched for a run in the fourth inning, a four-run fifth inning turned the tide for good.
The big play in that inning was a go-ahead RBI-double by Hunter Brannigan. It was actually an infield pop-up which was not fielded after a pair of New Hope defenders collided and the ball fell to the grass.
Mooreville took advantage of that freak play to break the tie and did not look back.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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