PEARL — The ball jumped off of Brooks Boolos’ bat, headed for the gap and for glory. At the same instant, Houston Roth was heading to the same spot.

Roth got there first and, like Superman, flew through the air to save the day.

The Oxford senior made a diving catch on Boolos’ sinking liner to right-center field for the final out of the game, denying Warren Central the tying run and preserving the Chargers’ 3-2 victory Friday in the Mid-Mississippi Classic.

“When I hit it, I thought I was going to be standing on third in a few seconds,” Boolos said. “I was rounding first and I just see him go full-out, extended dive. He just made a great play, and that happens. They know, and everybody else knows now, that we can hang with those guys. We were a few inches away from tying it up and maybe winning it. It’s disappointing and frustrating, but it’s also a really high note for us. It’s a good thing, because we were right there.”

Roth’s catch handed Warren Central (4-2) its second consecutive loss, but it seemed to be one it could live with. Oxford won the Class 5A championship last year, has won 39 of its last 40 games, and is ranked No. 1 in the country by Maxpreps.com.

The Chargers (4-0) have four Ole Miss signees on the roster — including Roth, a right-handed pitcher and outfielder whose fastball topped out at 91 mph Friday — and are a heavy favorite to win another state title.

Warren Central has a couple of junior college signees, including Boolos, and is hoping to make a deep playoff run in Class 6A. For seven innings, it went toe-to-toe with the nation’s top team and walked away more encouraged than discouraged.

“No loss is really good, but I feel like we showed people we can compete with the best,” WC center fielder Conner Wilkinson said. “I feel like we’re going to have a really good chance coming down to the end.”

Warren Central jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second inning on a two-run single by Tyler McRight, but missed a number of chances to add to its total. It left runners in scoring position in four of the last five innings.

Roth gave up two hits, but none after D.J. Lewis led off the third inning with a double. He also walked five batters, which led to most of Warren Central’s scoring opportunities, but struck out 10 in six innings. For his last strikeout, he got Logan Stewart looking at a fastball down the middle with two runners on to end the sixth inning.

“We missed a couple of opportunities, but the guys put themselves in positions and played hard. Some days the ball just doesn’t fall for you,” Warren Central coach Conner Douglas said.

Oxford’s Sage Mullins had an RBI infield single in the second inning, and Jason Barber homered over the left field fence with two outs in the third to give the Chargers a 3-2 lead.

Warren Central pitchers Taft Nesmith and Boolos kept them off the board the rest of the way. Nesmith lasted five innings and only allowed one hit after Barber’s home run. He gave up three runs on five hits, walked one and struck out five. Boolos started the sixth by hitting Barber, but worked out of the jam to keep it a one-run

Roth left the mound in the seventh and swapped positions with right fielder Thomas Dillard, another Ole Miss signee. That put Roth in the right place at the right time to save the day.

Warren Central’s Matthew Newcomb led off the seventh with a pinch-hit single to right. Pinch-runner Shakee Shaw was bunted to second and moved to third on a ground out. After taking a strike, Boolos sent a shot to the gap in right center. It hung up just long enough for Roth to make a full-extension diving catch to end the game.

Oxford’s players poured out of the dugout to celebrate, while Boolos shrugged his shoulders and grinned, all of them in disbelief over what they’d seen.

“Guy comes off the bench, does his job, we move him over and we hammer a baseball. It just didn’t fall,” Douglas said. “That ball falls nine times out of 10. It sucks for the guys, because they played hard. That’s the No. 1 team in the country, though. Sometimes you just don’t catch the break. Our guys showed they’re right there with them.”

 

WC 1, Faith (Ala.) 0

Aaron Greene and Brooks Boolos threw a combined no-hitter as Warren Central bounced back from its loss to Oxford by beating Faith Academy (Ala.) in the second game of a split doubleheader at Pearl High School.

Greene threw five innings, walked three batters and struck out three. The sophomore was hitting in the upper 80s on the radar gun. Boolos relieved and finished with two perfect innings to nail down the no-hitter.

Warren Central’s only run came in the bottom of the fourth inning. Conner Wilkinson led off with a double, moved to third on a passed ball, and scored on a ground out by John Austin Burris.

The Vikings only had three hits against Faith’s Gabe Shepard. He went six innings, allowed the one run and four walks, and struck out three.