[4/29/03]Vicksburg High ended a history-making season with 10 innings of the worst baseball it played all season long.

The Gators were outscored 25-3 in back-to-back mercy-rule losses to Southaven. But coach Jamie Creel would rather talk about four seniors that helped the team win 80 ballgames over four years, and advance past the first round of the state playoffs for the first time in the school’s history.

“They are four of the best kids a coach could ask for,” Creel said of third baseman Matt Middleton, shortstop Justin Henry, second baseman Josh McBride and first baseman Paul Gorney.

“I love em, I’ll always love em, and I’ll do anything in this world for em.”

Henry, an Ole Miss signee, led the team with a .450 batting average with 33 stolen bases. He started all four seasons for Creel. Gorney, the center on the football team when Henry quarterbacked, hit .417, while McBride batted .390 and Middleton .344.

“If these seniors would have lost a one-run ballgame in the bottom of the last inning, I think it would have hurt a little worse,” Creel said. “They have nothing to hang their heads about.”

Actually, quite the contrary.

The Gators (19-9) started off the season with four straight wins, including victories over Tupelo and Warren Central heading into spring break.

Several starters elected to go out of town during that week and VHS found itself on the a five-game losing streak.

The Gators, behind a young pitching staff and consistent hitting, won 15 of their next 17 games, including a sweep of Starkville in the opening round of the playoffs.

“Coming into this year, I don’t think anybody thought we were going to be as good as we were,” Gorney said. “The seniors on this team stepped up, and we had a great year.”

Henry is the only one of the four that has signed to play college ball, but the other three seniors are being looked at by several schools.

Also, of the four, only Henry saw time at pitcher, which bodes well for next season’s team.

Lefties James Jackson, Justin Boler and John Hendrix combined for 15 of the team’s wins, and all return. Jackson and Boler also play outfield when not on the mound.

“They’ll have a very good team coming back here,” Henry said. “I don’t think anyone is walking off the field thinking we didn’t do our best to win ballgames. Sometime, it just doesn’t happen for you.”

Steven Price, a freshman starter in left field, hit a gaudy .385 and led the team with four home runs. He also saw limited time on the mound, collecting two wins and striking out 16 in 13 innings of work.

Speedy center fielder Ben Shelton, right fielder Sean McGowan fill out the outfield, and Rob Quimby returns behind the plate.

Filling holes in the infield will be Creel’s biggest job next season, but he’ll worry about that later. Now, he’s too busy thinking of what he has coming back.

“We had some young guys really step up for us this season,” Creel said. “The future is very bright for this program.”