Photo Gallery: M-Braves winding down the season during final homestand
Published 9:35 pm Thursday, August 31, 2023
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Key City Brewery head brewer and Vicksburg resident Zack Erickson gets the baseball back from Mississippi Braves player Jacob Pearson after throwing out the ceremonial first pitch at Thursday's game at Trustmark Park. Key City, which is headquartered in Vicksburg, was a sponsor of the team's "Thirsty Thursday" promotion. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)
Key City Brewery head brewer and Vicksburg resident Zack Erickson throws out the ceremonial first pitch at the Mississippi Braves' game Thursday in Pearl. Key City, which is headquartered in Vicksburg, was a sponsor of the team's "Thirsty Thursday" promotion. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)
Mississippi Braves mascot Trusty mugs for the camera before the start of Thursday's game against Rocket City at Trustmark Park in Pearl. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)
Brandon Kncht and Joshua Gillis, members of the Mississippi Braves' grounds crew, pose for a photo before Thursday's game vs. Rocket City at Trustmark Park in Pearl. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)
Key City Brewery employees Amie Dowe, left, and Connor Matthews pour beer samples at Thursday's Mississippi Braves game. Key City, which is headquartered in Vicksburg, was a sponsor of the team's "Thirsty Thursday" promotion. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)
Key City Brewery employees Amie Dowe, and Connor Matthews pose with head brewer Zack Erickson at the Mississippi Braves' game Thursday in Pearl. Key City, which is headquartered in Vicksburg, was a sponsor of the team's "Thirsty Thursday" promotion. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)
Mississippi Braves players warm up before their game against Rocket City Thursday night at Trustmark Park. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)
Mississippi Braves outfielder Jacob Pearson (2) chats with Rocket City outfielder D'Shawn Knowles (8) before Thursday's game at Trustmark Park. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)
Mississippi Braves players hang out on the rail of the dugout before Thursday's game vs. Rocket City. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)
Members of the Reservoir Dogs, a 14U baseball travel team based in Flowood, mug for the camera before Thursday's Mississippi Braves game at Trustmark Park. The Dogs were honored before the game and stood alongside M-Braves players during the national anthem. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)
Mississippi Braves player Brandon Parker prepares for Thursday's game vs. Rocket City at Trustmark Park. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)
Mississippi Braves player Brandon Parker prepares for Thursday's game vs. Rocket City at Trustmark Park. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)
Mississippi Braves bat boy Max Cupstid, left, talks to catcher Hendrik Clementina before Thursday's game at Trustmark Park. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)
Mississippi Braves pitcher Luis De Avila delivers in the first inning of Thursday's game vs. Rocket City. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)
Umpires Kyle Stutz, Steven Hodgins and Kaleb Martin stand at home plate during the singing of the National Anthem before Thursday's game between the Mississippi Braves and Rocket City Trash Pandas at Trustmark Park. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)
Mississippi Braves second baseman Cal Conley swings at a pitch Thursday against Rocket City. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)
Mississippi Braves first baseman Javier Valdes runs off the field at the end of an inning Thursday vs. Rocket City. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)
The Mississippi Braves and Rocket City Trash Pandas showed up to Trustmark Park for a good time, not for a long time, Thursday night.
Rocket City scored twice in the top of the 10th inning to break up a speedy pitchers’ duel, and then held off the M-Braves in the bottom half to win 2-1.
Even with the extra inning, the game lasted just 2 hours and 11 minutes.
Max McCroskey hit an RBI double and Jose Gomez scored on a squeeze bunt for Rocket City. Mississippi’s Cal Conley scored on a sacrifice fly after starting the 10th inning at second base under tiebreaker rules, but Rocket City’s Luke Murphy struck out two of the next three batters to end it.
M-Braves starter Luis De Avila and his Rocket City counterpart Brett Kerry both pitched eight scoreless innings. De Avila had six strikeouts, and allowed one walk and four hits. His outing was the longest by an M-Braves pitcher this season, and the first time one had thrown at least eight innings since Nolan Kingham pitched 8 2/3 innings on June 12, 2021, at Biloxi.
Kerry also had six strikeouts, did not walk a batter and gave up two hits. Kerry retired 18 of the first 19 batters he faced.
Prior to Thursday’s game, Vicksburg resident Zack Erickson got a moment in the spotlight by throwing out the ceremonial first pitch. Erickson is the head brewer at Key City Brewery in Vicksburg, which was also featured in Trustmark Park’s “Thirsty Thursday” promotion. Key City handed out free samples on the concourse.
Key City Brewery is located at 1311 Washington St. in Vicksburg,
Thursday’s game was the fourth of seven that the M-Braves and Trash Pandas will play this week. The series continues through Sunday, with games starting at 6:35 p.m on Friday and 6:05 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. There are postgame fireworks shows after the weekend games.
The M-Braves are off on Monday, and then begin their final home series of the season Tuesday at 6:35 p.m. against the Tennessee Smokies. That series concludes Sept. 10.
About Ernest Bowker
Ernest Bowker is The Vicksburg Post's sports editor. He has been a member of The Vicksburg Post's sports staff since 1998, making him one of the longest-tenured reporters in the paper's 140-year history. The New Jersey native is a graduate of LSU. In his career, he has won more than 50 awards from the Mississippi Press Association and Associated Press for his coverage of local sports in Vicksburg.
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