SHS begins Class 6A second round tonight
Round one of playoff baseball is in the books and round two is set to begin with every single area team still in the running for a state championship.
It was a tremendous first round for the five teams competing last weekend. East Webster, Eupora, Choctaw County and French Camp all won its series in two games with Starkville High School implementing an emphatic game-three win over Murrah 24-0 in three innings on Monday night.
The Yellowjackets didn’t believe they should have gone to game three in the first place as they held an 11-2 lead over the Mustangs on the road in game two on Saturday in the sixth inning. All of a sudden, SHS fell apart and saw its lead vanish before Murrah won the game in the seventh.
Head coach Travis Garner admitted that he wasn’t sure how his incredibly young Jackets would answer but they rang the bell. Starkville scored 21 runs in the first inning before the Mustangs could record an out and the Jackets eventually ended the game in three innings with the 24-run win.
C.J. Kemp was a big part of that performance as he went 4-for-4 for the day and 3-for-3 in the first innings. He’s seen his team grow leaps and bounds over the course of the last couple of months and now Starkville gets a shot at one of the top teams in the state at DeSoto Central, which is a team the Jackets
beat in last year’s playoffs.
“We’re going out to play seven innings of baseball and we just have to play as hard as we can,” Kemp said. “If we do, good things will come out of it,” Kemp said. “We’re right where we want to be. Everybody knows their role and everybody is embracing their role. We’re starting to become more of a team than we ever were.”
Starkville has gone from a 5-11 start to the season to one of the hottest teams in the state regardless of classification. Over the last 13 games, the Jackets are 11-2 and are playing their best baseball when it matters the most.
As the Jackets prepare for the first game tonight, Garner feels great about his team.
“The only teams that have beat us are Madison Central, who is pretty doggone good, and the fall apart the other day (against Murrah),” Garner said. “Earlier in the year, we weren’t playing very well and I kept saying it’s coming and now it’s here.”
SHS will play game one tonight at 6:30 p.m. at DeSoto Central and it’ll host game two in Starkville on Friday at
6 p.m.
DeSoto Central head coach Mark Monaghan is a former Jacket player under coach Danny Carlisle.
Another team playing hot baseball is the Choctaw County Chargers, who enter the second round on an eight-game winning streak. The Chargers most notably won their last seven Class 3A, Region 5 games to take home the district championship and get home field advantage in the playoffs.
The first round was relatively easy pickings for the Chargers, who beat Crystal Springs 13-5 and 13-1 for a
quick sweep and moved on to face off with West Marion this weekend. Game one is Friday in Ackerman at 6 p.m. with game two taking place Saturday at West Marion, also at 6 p.m.
In Webster County, two of the best Class 2A teams advanced past the first round in just one evening. East Webster knocked off South Delta and Eupora beat O’Bannon in doubleheaders that ended prematurely due to run rules.
Both teams continue home field advantage this week as the Wolverines will play Baldwyn on Friday at home starting at 5 p.m. and travel to
north Mississippi Saturday at 2 p.m. for the second game.
Eupora hosts Mantachie for game one on Friday at 6 p.m. with game two on the road Saturday.
In Class A action, French Camp was forced into a three-game set with Lumberton after splitting the first two games of the series. The Panthers ultimately advanced after winning game three at home 5-3 and now reset with a second round meeting against Bogue Chitto.
French Camp heads to the road on Friday at 6 p.m. before coming back home Saturday for a 6 p.m. meeting.
Finally, Starkville Academy has a first-round bye as the MAIS playoffs begin this week. The Volunteers completed a 2-AAA championship in the regular season last week when they defeated Leake and they were 7-2 in district play for Brooks Roberts’ first year as head coach.
Starkville Academy won’t be without a tune up before next week’s playoffs start. The Vols play Canton Academy to close out the regular season tonight at 6 p.m. on the road. They will await the winner of Columbia and Manchester Academy for next week’s round two.