An aching thigh muscle and a dizzy spell knocked Porters Chapel Academy ace Montana McDaniel out of Tuesday’s game with Calvary Christian.

The Eagles’ bats knocked out the Cougars.

The Eagles scored nine runs over their final two at-bats to blast the visiting Cougars 13-3 and move into sole possession of first place in MAIS District 5-A. With the victory, the defending Class A champions all but sewed up their 12th consecutive playoff berth and gained the inside track to the district championship. Calvary Christian slipped to 10-2 overall and 4-2 in the district.

“That’s something I’ve been talking to them about and that is to finish the game. We did that and now we’re in first place in our conference,” Bourne said. “I really liked the production we got from the bottom three in the order.”

Most prominent of the three was No. 8 hitter Richie Bufkin. The freshman hit his first high school home run, a solo shot to left field, then added a double to start a five-run rally in the fifth inning that ended the game by run rule.

“I think Little League was the last time I hit a home run,” Bufkin said. “I got a fastball down the middle.”

Bufkin was one of four Eagles with two or more hits. Kreuz Federick had three, including a double in the fifth inning that scored Matthew Warren to make it 12-3. Reed Gordon then singled to left to score Federick to finish the game.

Warren had two hits, including a double, and also scored three runs. Colby Rushing had three hits.

A concern for the Eagles, however, is the health of their ace pitcher, McDaniel. He was not sharp from the start, needing 27 pitches to get out of the first inning. He issued his fourth walk with two outs in the second before getting a strikeout to end the inning. Two errors and a hit by Matt Seward helped the Cougars tie the game at 1 in the third.

McDaniel struck out the leadoff man in the fourth but fell behind the next batter with two balls and asked to come out.

Tuesday’s start was McDaniel’s first since last week’s eight-inning stint against University Christian. He threw 147 pitches while striking out 14 in that game, earning a no-decision as the Eagles lost in 10 innings.  Warren came in and got the last five outs, allowing an unearned run in the fourth and an earned run off two doubles in the fifth. He struck out three in getting his second save in two days.

WC 8, Greenville 2

Dylan Wooten had three hits and three RBIs, and Jay Harper threw seven strong innings as Warren Central remained undefeated in Division 4-6A with a win over Greenville-Weston.

WC (11-7, 4-0 in division play) scored three runs in the first inning and four more in the third to take a commanding 7-1 lead. Harper cruised from there, allowing four hits and one walk while striking out seven.

Carlos Gonzalez had two hits and three RBIs for WC while Colby Key added two hits.

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Contact Jeff Byrd at jbyrd@vicksburgpost.com