SP earns championship berth

Published 11:06 am Friday, June 8, 2018

South Panola shortstop Denver Brown tags a Southaven runner at second in early week State Game action.

The Panolian photo by Glennie Pou

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By Brad Greer

The South Panola baseball team got the 2018 State baseball games off to an impressive start with a pair of easy wins Tuesday at Tiger Field.

The Tigers improved to 2-0 in Pool A with an 11-1 victory over Southaven followed by an 11-2 win over Senatobia in five innings

South Panola scored in every inning against the Warriors as Luke Weldon gave up two runs over four innings of work on the mound before giving way to Denver Brown who worked a scoreless fifth frame. Brown also did damage at the plate with two singles and a pair of runs driven in.

Brandon Phelps also provided two singles at the dish while Blaine Ware,who had homered earlier in the day against Southaven, added a double and single.

The Tigers took a 7-0 lead before Senatobia avoided the shut out with two runs in the fourth. South Panola put the game out of reach with four runs in the bottom half of the frame on an RBI double off the bat of Bowen Williams and a series of wild pitches that allowed runs to cross the plate.

Gehrig Griffin provided a double and scored in the second while Wes Morgan and Keshaun Lantern plated two runs each.

Tupelo-10 SP II-4

A six-run fourth inning by Tupelo blew open a 3-3 game in the third as the Golden Wave cruised to the win in five innings.

The South Panola II squad, which consisted mostly of freshmen and sophomores, took an early 2-0 lead in the first on RBIs from  Dre’ Moore and Tate Anderson.

After Tupelo responded with two runs of its own in the second, the Tigers retook the lead in the bottom half of the frame as Brett Goss walked, advanced to third on two wild pitches and scored on Blaine Cosby’s sacrifice fly.

Tupelo put the game out of reach with seven runs over the following two innings for a 9-3 cushion. The Tigers tacked on their final run in the fourth on Keshaun Lantern’s double that scored Tate Anderson.

Gage Heath paced the Tigers offensively with a double and single. Graydon Gullick doubled while Anderson provided a single.

Gullick got the start on the mound and went three innings before being relived by Jenson Presley for 2/3 of an inning. Wesley Wilson finished out the game with 1.1 innings in relief.

South Panola 8, Grenada 4

The South Panola Tigers improved to 6-0 in the Summer league slate with an 8-4 victory in five innings over Grenada in the State Games of North Mississippi Wednesday at Tiger Field.

South Panola strung together five consecutive singles that led to a four-run third inning to erase a 4-3 deficit. The Tigers added an insurance run in the fourth as John Culp led off the inning with a walk and later scored a Dawson Griffin’s double.

Wes Morgan,Blaine Ware and Bowen Williams  sparked the rally in the third with three straight singles before Brandon Phelps provided the big blow with a two-run single to give South Panola a 6-4 lead. Gehrig Griffin followed with an infield single to score Williams.

Phelps also picked up the pitching win in middle relief by giving up four unearned runs on two hits and one strikeout. Caleb White earned the save with two scoreless innings in relief. Ware started on the hill and recorded three outs on 11 pitches.

The Tigers grabbed a 3-0 lead in the first on an error and two-run single by Gehrig Griffin. Grenada responded with a single run in the second and three in the third off two South Panola miscues.

South Panola’s  first four hitters in the lineup were a combined six-for-10 with seven runs scored. Dawson Griffin garnered a double and single from his leadoff position. Morgan provided a pair of singles and two runs in leading the Tigers nine-hit attack.