Coleman shakes off error, scores winning run.

PEARL – Eric Coleman turned his costly blunder at second base into a game he won’t soon forget.

The Vicksburg High second baseman committed a first-inning error that put the Gators in a 3-run hole. But when he got up in the seventh inning with the bases loaded, he didn’t miss.

Coleman blasted a bases-clearing triple to right-center, then scored on a throwing error to wipe out his mistake in one swing. The hit highlighted a six-run rally for the Gators, who themselves overcame a string of mistakes and missed opportunities to beat Pearl 9-6 in the Mid-Mississippi Classic.

&#8220I was just thinking ‘run.’ I had to score and make up for that error in the first inning,” said Coleman, who did make up for the fielding error by going 2-for-3 with four RBIs at the plate. He was also hit by a pitch. &#8220It feels good to step it up like that and make up for that error.”

Coleman’s miscue had the Gators (3-0) playing catch-up all night.

After Pearl loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the first, VHS starter Avery Mathes came back with two strikeouts before coaxing an easy grounder to second from Dusty Aubre. The ball rolled slowly to Coleman, who let it roll through his legs. Two runs scored on the play, and another on a double steal that was misplayed by the Gators, giving Pearl a 3-0 lead.

Vicksburg did score single runs in the third, fourth and fifth innings — including one on an RBI single by Coleman in the fourth — but Pearl managed to answer each rally.

The Pirates (0-2) scored a run in the third on an RBI groundout by Aubre, and two more in the fourth on a double steal and an RBI groundout by Lee Williamson. Vicksburg also left six runners in scoring position in the game.

&#8220They made some mistakes, but we bunted well, we ran the bases well, we got the ground ball to knock in some runs and some clutch hits. So we really played the game very, very well, I would say, until the top of the seventh,” Pearl coach Rick Clark said.

That was when Vicksburg’s Steven Price was hit by a pitch leading off, Vernon Wolfe and Gerald Mims each drew one-out walks, and things started to get interesting.

Tyler Wells delivered a two-run single to cut it to 6-5 and, after a wild pitch put runners at second and third, Clark intentionally walked Stanton Price to load the bases and bring Coleman to the plate.

Coleman said he was just looking to put the ball in play, but did a lot more. He blasted a shot to the gap in right-center, clearing the bases as he slid headfirst into third. The relay throw got by the third baseman and rolled out of play, allowing Coleman to score an insurance run and put Vicksburg ahead 9-6.

Stefan Gibbs struck out the side in the bottom of the inning, finishing off a strong relief performance and earning the win. Gibbs allowed two runs and one hit in four innings, but nothing after the fourth. He struck out six of the last seven batters he faced.

&#8220This game reminded me of one of those movies where you’re slipping off the rope or off the ledge. As soon as you get that second hand, you feel like you’re coming back and then they kick the other hand off. Every time we scratched a run, we gave it back the next inning,” Vicksburg coach Jamie Creel said. &#8220But this team is real close. I’m proud to see us come back after the adverse situations that we were faced with tonight.”

Big seventh inning propels Arrows to 8-3 win.

PEARL – Warren Central started strong Thursday at the Mid-Mississippi Classic.

Clinton finished strong, as well as on top.

Matt Quick overcame a shaky start to retire the last nine batters he faced, Mitch Chappell went 3-for-4 with a double and three RBIs, and Clinton (3-0) blew open a close game with four runs in the seventh to defeat Warren Central 8-3.

WC (2-2) jumped out to an early 3-0 lead, but only had two hits after the second inning, and no base runners after the fourth. Kyle Calhoun was 2-for-3 with a pair of RBIs for the Vikings.

&#8220I think we got complacent. We had a big speech to them last week about the light switch. You can’t just flip it on and off. When you come in, you flip it on, then when the last out is made then you flip it off,” WC coach Randy Broome said. &#8220I think that’s what we did offensively. We figured we’ve hit this guy before, we’re hitting him now, and we got into cruise control.”

It seemed as if the Vikings were ready to run away with the game early, after Josh Gordon’s RBI single in the first and Calhoun’s two-run single in the second staked them to a 3-0 lead. The first rally ended in a double play, however, the second fizzled after Calhoun’s hit, and a third ended in the fourth inning when Calhoun was picked off of first on a base running blunder.

That gave Quick time to settle down and find his groove, and Clinton’s hitters to do the same.

The Arrows got on the scoreboard in the top of the fourth on run-scoring singles from Casey Stevens and Chappell, then took the lead with two more runs in the fifth inning. Chris Goolsby led off the fifth with a single, Michael Pardue reached on an error, and Rob Tadlock bunted both of them into scoring position. Barlow followed with his hit, putting Clinton ahead 4-3.

From there, Quick took command. He allowed only one ball out of the infield in the last three innings, on a flyout by Ben Koestler, and struck out four of the last seven batters he faced. In all, he scattered five hits in seven innings, struck out six and walked one.

&#8220I’ve been kind of sick, and I guess my body wasn’t warming up to it. My slider wasn’t really breaking, but eventually I got into a groove and my defense played awesome behind me,” Quick said.

The Arrows gave Quick some breathing room in the top of the seventh. They scored four runs – all with two outs, after a quick double play by the Vikings – and batted around. Alan Harris ignited the rally with an RBI single, and Chappell capped it with a two-run double. Stevens also brought in a run when he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.

Harris’ hit was a gamble by Broome that backfired. After Tadlock doubled for Clinton, Broome elected to intentionally walk Neil Barlow and pitch to Harris – a preseason All-American. Harris blooped a tough outside pitch just over the head of WC second baseman Jonathan Ettinger, scoring Tadlock and opening the door for a big inning.

&#8220We’ve been able to get him out through the years on stuff away, and he’s made that adjustment,” Broome said. &#8220We learned from it. It’s a gamble we took.”