By Brad Greer

As South Panola head baseball coach Patrick Robey strolled to the team bus after losing a tough 6-5 decision to Magnolia Heights in the Capital City Shootout Thursday night at Jackson Prep, Robey jokingly proclaimed, “ We may be the best 0-5 team in the state.”

Come to find out Robey just may be right.

Of the five losses so far this season, four have come by a combined eight runs which included a 9-5 loss to Jackson Prep pryor to the Magnolia Heights matchup.

South Panola will look to pick up its first win of the year at Cleveland Friday night before traveling to Grenada Saturday to take on the host Chargers at noon followed by a 3 p.m clash with Independence.

Magnolia Heights’ Jeremy Massie laced a one-out single into left field in the bottom of the seventh inning off Tiger reliever Bobby Epps to score Tyler Graves from second base to give the Chiefs the victory in what was the first-ever meeting between the two schools.

Epps, who came on in relief of starting pitcher Matt Hendrix in the fifth inning, took the loss as the sophomore right-hander gave up one hit while striking out two in 2.1 innings of work. Hendrix pitched four innings while giving up five runs (two earned) on five hits and fanning five batters. Senior Jimmy Braswell worked three innings in relief of Massie to register the pitching win.

South Panola knotted the game at 5-5 in the top of the fifth on a pair of singles by Lee Self and Wesley Gregg. Hendrix followed with a RBI groundout that plated Gregg.

Magnolia Heights scored three unearned runs on a two-out error in the bottom of the first inning to take a 3-0 lead as both Braswell and Parker Gaines came home on Nick Bailey’s two-run single.

South Panola answered back with three runs of their own in the top of the third on three hits as Mitchel Babb slapped a one-out single into center to start the rally. Self and Gregg followed with back-to-back doubles off Massie to tie the game. Self led the Tigers offensively with a double and two singles while Gregg drove in three runs on the day with a double and a single.

The Chiefs regained the lead at 5-3 in the bottom half of the frame on consecutive doubles by Gaines and Adam Webb. Bailey then drove Webb home with a RBI groundout to first.

South Panola out-hit Magnolia Heights 9-6 in the contest as Zach Horne added a double and a single while Joey Gabbard and Babb both singled.

In the opening game of the day, Jackson Prep exploded for five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to break open a 4-3 contest. William Brand and Chris Boyd ripped back-to-back doubles off Tiger reliever Andrew Horne to help guide the defending Mississippi Association of Independent Schools (MAIS) AAA state champions to the victory.

South Panola added a pair of runs in the top of the seventh as Matt Brown singled and Zach Horne walked to lead off the inning. After one out was recorded, Babb slashed a double down the right field line to score Brown followed by Self’s RBI single to plate Horne. Prep reliever Clay Hubbard then struck out Gregg and then retired Hendrix on a groundout to end the game.

Zach Horne’s two-run single staked the Tigers to a 2-0 lead in the top of the second off Prep  pitcher Carter Lindsey. The Patriots responded with single runs in the second and third innings off of South Panola starting pitcher Babb. The junior lefty give up two runs on two hits while walking five and fanning three in three innings of work.

Jackson Prep, (4-2) added two more runs in the bottom of the fourth off Horne on a error, single and a sacifice fly by Kaleb Barlow. South Panola added their final run of the game in the sixth inning on a lead off double by Self followed by Gregg’s single to right.

Horne took the loss on the mound by giving up seven runs on five hits in 2.2 innings. Luke Latham came on in the bottom of the sixth to record the final out.

Babb and Self  both doubled and singled to lead the Tigers at the plate. Gregg, Latham, Brown and Zach Horne all singled as South Panola registered eight hits in the game.