Heritage takes wild 6-AAAA series from Ridgeland
While rain and unplayable field conditions disrupted baseball schedules for several local teams last week, the Heritage Generals and the Ridgeland Panthers did their weather homework early enough and were able to get in all three games of their initial Region 6-AAAA series of the season.
In what turned out to be three games highlighted by plenty of runs and marred by numerous errors on both sides, Ridgeland won Game 1 of the series last Tuesday before Heritage rallied to win the final two games on Wednesday and Thursday. thers to even the series at one game apiece.
Both teams put up two runs in the first inning, but Heritage would go in front with solo runs in the second and third innings. The Panthers would respond with a six-run frame in the top of the fourth, only to see the Generals answer with four runs in the bottom of the inning to tie the score once again.
However, the bottom of the fifth inning would be a nightmare for Ridgeland as the Generals put up another eight runs to grab a 16-8 advantage and take the lead for good.
The Panthers got their final two runs in the top of the sixth, while Heritage tacked on an insurance run a halfinning later.
Ryan Heet had a huge day for Heritage with three hits, including a double, and four RBIS. Mixon had two doubles as part of his three hits. He finished with two RBIS. Snyder had two hits, including a double. He scored three times and drove in three. Brody Campbell had one hit, scored twice and drove in three runs, while Letzgus and Padgett both had one RBI.
Mixon got the win with four innings of relief. Nick Hanson got the start and lasted three innings.
For Ridgeland, Tyler Crawford was 3-for-3 with a double and three RBIS. Riley Harrison was 1-for-4 with a double and three RBIS. Hill had a double and a triple, scored twice and drove in one, while Wilson, Ashley and Drew Meade all had one RBI apiece.
The Panthers used seven pitchers on the night with Ashley taking the loss.
The Lady Warriors dropped their first Region 6-AAA match of the season last Tuesday with a shutout loss at Calhoun.
Rebecca Leggett had 12 saves for LFO (2-3-1, 0-1). Faith Jones was praised for her work in the midfield as the Lady Warriors kept the Lady Jackets off the scoreboard in the second half.
Jalen Perez-glover found the net for the Warriors (0-4, 0-1) to tie the score 1-1, but the Jackets would reel off five unanswered tallies in the region victory. LFO coach Paul Harwart said keeper Caleb Goodwin had a solid game in net to keep the Warriors in the game. Railee Lynn had eight saves for the Lady Ramblers (1-1-3, 0-1) who lost their first match of the season and their first Region 6-AAAA match of 2019 last Tuesday.
Standouts included Bailey Tarvin, Ashton Stalling, Darsey Shields and Caitlyn Watson (defense), Shelby Adkins and Gracie Hess (midfield) and Imani Cook, Megan Wilson and Kailee Queen (offense).
The defending Class 4A state champion Bruins led 4-0 at halftime, but tacked on six second-half goal to give Lafayette (3-1-2, 0-1) its first set back of the year.
Beau Thrash had 13 saves in goal for the Ramblers, while Hayden Rainwater stopped a pair of Northwest shots.
The Lady Panthers had to wait quite a while to finally get in their home match against the Lady Lions, but it turned out to be worth the wait for the Black-andWhite, who picked up their long-anticipated first victory of 2019 at home on Friday.
Katie Davis and Kaitlyn Durham both had goals for Ridgeland (1-4-2), while Anastasia Burkhart and Ayana Cummings provided assists. Riley Mcbee collected the shutout in goal with three saves.
Friday’s nightcap was called 10 minutes into the second half, but not before the Panthers (4-1-2) could put up four goals against the Lions.
Two goals came off the foot of Tyler Bloodworth, while Angel Ojeda and Denilson Bautista each scored once. Assists were recorded by Sam Dickson, Juan Valazquez and Lucas Bautista.