Weather

Local News

   ___________
 

___________
 
AD RATES
___________
 

National News

Saturday, in the Sports Plus Classic in Jackson, McKenzie's offensive script had been altered.

"We just didn't hit the ball very well," said Rebel coach Josh Kee. "We had more hits in one game Friday than we did in two games on Saturday."

The Rebs defeated Camden 11-8 and Martin-Westview 10-8 to improve to 4-0, then suffered an 8-5 setback to Trenton, then played well against powerhouse North Side before falling 10-3.
"It was one of those days," Kee said. "North Side is a perennial Triple A power and we were right with them. The game was closer than the score."

Kee says he hopes to use this event in Jackson as a learning tool for his team.

"We are in this thing to face good pitching and good competition," he said. "We want to get ready for tournament time."

Trenton 8
McKenzie 5
The Rebels had problems finding the mark against the Golden Tide. MHS managed six hits against Trenton pitching in the tournament opener at Jackson-North Side.

John French was 2-4 to lead the Rebels. Jake Smith was 1-3 with a double. Demerick Diggs singled and had two RBI. Clint Manns singled in a run. Daniel Hollowell was 1-3.

Jordan Trull was the starting pitcher.

"We didn't hit well and we didn't field too well," said Kee. "Trull threw a pretty good game, but we just didn't play very well."

Jackson-North Side 10
McKenzie 3
McKenzie senior Brian Winston threw a complete game and the Rebels were hanging tough with the host Indians from North Side. Through four innings, North Side clinged to a 3-1 lead.

But the bottom fell out and MHS suffered its second loss of the season.

Jake Smith was 2-4 with an RBI. French also was 2-4 with a double. Winston had an RBI. Matt Jones, Manns and Hollowell each had a hit.

McKenzie 11
Camden 8
The Rebels captured their second district victory of the season with a road win over the Lions.

McKenzie's five-run first set the tone as it scored all of its runs in the first four innings.

In the first, Jones walked, French singled and Taylor walked, setting up Winston's run-scoring fielder's choice. Then Smith cleared the bases with his triple. Hayes singled Smith home and scored on a passed ball for a 5-0 lead.

In the third, Robert Jones reached on an error and scored when Winston cranked a two-run dinger. Hayes singled and eventually made it to third where Mark Ghyers squeezed him home.

In the fourth, French walked, Winston singled and Smith doubled to score French. Then Hayes plated Winston with a single.

Hayes collected his second victory of the season with a complete game. He scattered seven hits, struck out 10 and walked four in the victory. It was Hayes' first start of the season.

Smith was 3-4 with three RBI, Winston was 2-3 with three RBI, Hayes was 4-4 with two RBI, Ghyers had a hit and an RBI while French singled.

McKenzie 10
Martin-Westview 8
McKenzie started strong, struggled, then rallied to defeat visiting Martin-Westview Friday afternoon and, in the process, improved to 4-0 to start the season.

"It was good to see that we could come back," said Kee. "We could have folded the tents, but the guys kept plugging away; we have a never-say-die bunch of kids."

Matt Jones started things off for the host Rebels with his opening home run. That set the tone for a while when Westview centerfielder Rafael Hill unloaded with a three-run shot to dead center.

The Chargers took a 6-3 lead into the fifth when McKenzie cut loose. Senior Brian Winston singled, followed by Jake Smith's RBI double. Freshman Drew Hayes singled and a throwing error plated Smith. Matt Ghyers took one for the team when he advanced Hayes with a perfect sacrifice bunt. Then Demerick Diggs knotted the game with his RBI triple. When Diggs scored on a wild pitch, MHS took a 7-6 lead.

Rebel starter Robert Jones ended his solid day and made way for Matt Jones, who struggled at first, but righted himself to get out of the inning. McKenzie headed into its half of the sixth tied with Martin at 7.

Jay Taylor led off the bottom of the sixth with a single. Winston followed with the same and both advanced to second and third on a wild pitch. That set the tone for Hayes three-run homer, his second three-run jack in successive Fridays, and the Rebs led 10-7. Ghyers singled, but was stranded there.

As the seventh began, Matt Jones got a pop-out, but the sacks were juiced. Hayes came in to put out the fire. He struck out a batter and fielded a nubber to end the game and pick up his first save of the season.

The Rebels pounded 14 hits against the Chargers. Matt Jones was 3-4 with three RBI, French was 2-4, Taylor was 1-2 Winston was 2-4, Smith was 1-4, Hayes was 1-3 with three RBI, Ghyers was 2-4 and Diggs was 2-4 with two RBI.

Although Milan’s Lady Bulldogs led briefly 2-1, West Carroll came back to hold a 6-2 advantage until the top of the sixth inning when Milan had a six run rally as they hit the ball to open spots and deep into left and right field. With an 8-6 advantage going into the bottom of the inning, the Lady War Eagles had their work cut out for them and rose to the occasion. By the end of the sixth inning West Carroll led 9-8, giving both teams the incentive to gain a victory.

In the top of the seventh inning. Ashley Stafford who had pitched the entire game for West Carroll continued to struggle as she had the previous inning. The first Milan batter gained base on an error. After the Lady Bulldogs tied the game at nine and had two additional runners on base, with two out, Coach Pam Bryant put senior Anna Moore on the mound. Moore got two quick strikes. On the third pitch, the batter hit a short grounder down the first base line. Moore picked up the ball and threw it to Brittany Baker at first base to end the inning.

In the bottom of the seventh inning, Sara McGowan hit a standup double. The next batter struck out and then Moore reached base on an error. With two men on base, Gilliam came to bat and hit the ball deep into left field. The ball was caught, but McGowan tagged third and ran home to give West Carroll the only run they needed for victory.

The Lady War Eagles improved to 5-0 with the victory, having defeated Trenton on Tuesday 10-2. This week they will be facing Gibson County at home on Thursday, March 27 before traveling to Clarksburg for a district match-up on Friday, March 28.

Coach Randy Thomas noted that the team did very well, but errors, particularly in the Knoxville Halls game made it appear worse than it was. Thomas said that both Coffee County and Halls were exceptional teams, but against Halls, pitcher Brittany Carpenter gave up only five hits and yet they scored 11 runs against McKenzie due to 10 field errors. McKenzie lost that match 11-0. In the Coffee County game, the Lady Rebs fell 12-0 with Rachael Clark taking the loss.

On the good side of the equation however, the Lady Rebels played very well against Houston County, with Carpenter picking up a 3-2 decision.

Carpenter was credited with a 3-1 loss to Dickson County and Clark had a 3-2 loss against McEwen to complete their weekend schedule.

Coach Thomas praised the girls’ efforts thus far, noting they had only had five days of practice prior to their first contest with eight of their 15-player roster having come off of the basketball floor or cheerleading later than usual this season. He expects the team to get better as the season progresses and they have had additional batting practice.

This week, McKenzie will be hosting the Dresden Lady Lions on Wednesday afternoon at McKenzie Recreation Park and will travel to Camden for a district match on Thursday. They will return to Waverly this weekend for another tournament.

Advertisements