Walter Bliss, and PCA teammates, from left, Jeremiah Riggs, Ryan Hoben, Heath Smith, Gerald Mims and Michael Shinn celebrate after Trey White hit a home run to beat Heidelberg, 8-7, in the first game of the state championship series. (The Vicksburg Post/MELANIE DUNCAN)

[05/16/01] In its last home game of the season, Porters Chapel Academy turned to one of its old warhorses for the biggest hit in school history.

Senior Trey White blasted a two-out, solo home run in the bottom of the eighth inning Tuesday night to give PCA an 8-7 win over Heidelberg (19-5) in Game 1 of the Academy-A championship series.

“We’ve been battling back all year long,” PCA coach Randy Wright said. “We battled and battled and got the big hits when we needed them. We left some runners on early in the game and could have scored more runs than we did, but we got the hits when we had to to win the ballgame.”

The victory gave PCA (22-11) a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series and snapped Heidelberg’s winning streak at 16 games. PCA can wrap up the Academy-A title with a win Friday at the Jasper County school. Game 2 will begin at 4:30 p.m., followed by Game 3, if necessary.

Before White could become a hero, the Eagles had to dig themselves out of a hole.

PCA batted around in the first inning, getting six hits including a two-run double by T.J. Smith, to jump to a 4-1 lead. But Heidelberg chipped away at the deficit and took a 7-5 lead with four runs in the fourth.

A dropped fly ball allowed one run to score, and the Rebels took the lead on a monstrous two-run homer by shortstop Heath Ainsworth that hit a wire suspended about 40 feet above the left field fence and still landed in a set of bleachers about 100 feet beyond the wall.

Third baseman Scott McInnis, who went 4-for-4 with two doubles, followed with a double and scored on an RBI single by center fielder Derek McKee to make it 7-5.

PCA kept battling, but kept coming up short against Heidelberg’s Matt Culberson (8-1). Culberson kept the Eagles off balance by constantly changing speeds, often following up a slow, 60 mph curve with a sidearm fastball in the high 70s or low 80s.

Still, PCA had its chances. The Eagles stranded eight runners in the first five innings, left the bases loaded in the fourth and stranded one runner in the fifth before finally tying the game in the sixth.

Winning pitcher Heath Smith (12-1) who allowed 14 hits, struck out 10 and threw 168 pitches in eight innings started the sixth by reaching on an error, and catcher Walter Bliss followed with a single. After White struck out, shortstop Clayton Hensley drilled a double to the gap in right-center, scoring Smith and courtesy runner Joseph Ivey to tie the game at 7-7.

“I was just thinking base hit. We had runners on first and second, so I was just trying to hit it the other way,” said Hensley, who went 2-for-4 with four RBIs.

A pair of defensive gems by the Eagles in the seventh and eighth innings kept the game tied and set the stage for White.

Heidelberg catcher Brooks Lewis reached on a one-out error in the top of the seventh and advanced to second on a wild pitch. The next batter, Matthew Andrews, singled to center. Lewis was waved around third, but PCA center fielder Kyle Ehrhardt came up gunning.

First baseman Andrew Embry cut the ball off just behind the pitcher’s mound and threw a strike to Bliss, who had a roadblock set up at the plate. Lewis slid into Bliss and the tag for the out, keeping it tied at 7-7.

“It was right on top of the mound and I had to come up and get it. I caught it right here in my palm and almost didn’t get it,” Embry said. “I don’t think if (Bliss) hadn’t been in front of the plate that we’d have gotten him.”

After the Eagles went down in order in the bottom of the seventh, Heidelberg threatened again in the eighth but fell victim to a baserunning blunder.

Right fielder Blake Bass led off with a double, and took off for third when Ainsworth popped up a bunt attempt. Bliss caught it easily and, after waiting for one of his fielders to get to the bag, fired to second to double up Bass.

The mistake proved to be costly as Smith walked the next two batters, including McInnis, on eight pitches before striking out Culberson to end the inning.

After Smith and Bliss popped up to start the bottom of the eighth, White hammered a hanging curve from Culberson over the left-field fence to give PCA the win.

“It just didn’t seem like it was meant to be tonight,” Heidelberg coach Tom Ainsworth said.