By Brad Greer

Trailing 8-2 to Water Valley in the third inning, the Batesville 7-year-old All-Star baseball team found themselves in a precarious situation Sunday afternoon in the championship game of the Dizzy Dean North State tournament at J.P. Hudson Park.

But just as good teams seem to do, Batesville found its offense just in the nick of time by exploding for seven runs in the fourth inning to key a 13-12 triumph over Water Valley to claim the title.

With the score tied at 12 in the bottom of the fifth, Haze Smith scored the winning run on a two-out error that proved the difference in the game. Water Valley had one last grasp at victory in the top of the sixth with two outs  only to have a runner slide over second base and get tagged out to end the game.

Trevor Bailey got Batesville on the board in the bottom of the first with a two-run home run only to have Water Valley retaliate for four runs in the second and third innings to take an 8-2 lead.

The host team got their bats going in the bottom of the third as Bailey doubled and Caleb White singled to help produce three runs to close the margin to 8-5.

After a single Water Valley run in the top of the fourth made the score 9-5, Batesville erupted for seven runs on six hits to regain the lead at 12-9. Caleb West, Travis Duffie and Drake Barton added singles before Bailey added his fourth RBI of the game with a two-run single that highlighted the frame.

Water Valley, who advanced to the championship game with an 18-11 win over Senatobia earlier in the day, knotted the game at 12 by scoring three runs in the fifth before Batesville scored the winning run in the bottom half of the inning.

After hammering Tri-County 23-8 Thursday to start the tournament, Batesville downed Senatobia 16-11 and Water Valley 19-11 Saturday to reach the title game. Water Valley meanwhile out-slugged Hernando 22-15 Thursday and defeated Pontotoc Saturday before dropping into the losers’ bracket with a loss to Batesville in their first meeting.

In their win over Senatobia, Batesville scored four runs in the first and third inning and three more in the second and fourth to claim the victory. Weslan Morgan added three singles while Smith and Tanner Jaudon chipped in with a pair of singles. Bailey added to the hit parade with two triples while Dre’ Moore registered a triple in the winning effort. Duffie also contributed with a double and a single for Batesville.