Griffin beats Water Valley 16-2; SP now 7-0

By Brad Greer

The South Panola baseball team stayed red hot last week, and remain undefeated with a 16-2 thumping of Water Valley in five innings Thursday at Tiger Field.

Sophomore Dawson Griffin picked up his second  pitching win of the young season, giving up one earned run while striking out three and walking one in four innings. Luke Weldon closed out the game with one inning of relief work in the fifth.

The Tigers (7-0) were scheduled to play Horn Lake here Monday at 11 a.m. before leaving for Biloxi where they will play in the Spring Break Battle on the Beach this week.

Against Water Valley, Griffin helped his own cause at the plate with two singles and one run driven in. Mari Boyd and Blaine Ware drove in four runs each as the Tigers pounded out 11 hits and scored runs in each of the four innings.

South Panola blew open a 1-1 game with a six-run second inning by sending 11 batters to the plate. Dre Moore got things started with a leadoff double followed by singles from Gehrig Griffin and Gage Heath. Braydyn Lee added the first of his two sacrifice fly’s to drive in Griffin.

After Boyd fanned for the second out, three straight walks and a error  produced four runs that put the game out of reach early.

South Panola tacked on four runs in the third and five in the forth to finish off the visiting Blue Devils. Wes Morgan and Heath registered two singles each and scored three runs. Boyd added the big blow in the fourth with bases clearing double. Ware followed two batters later with a single that produced two runs.

Bowen Williams drove in two runs with a single and a bases loaded walk in the second. Brandon Phelps contributed with a  pinch-hit single in the fourth. Keshaun Lantern scored three runs in a courtesy-running role.

“After coming off a big road win Wednesday against Southaven I wondered how our guys would react tonight after getting back late and having to go to school today. Water Valley came in here last year and beat us so that was their challenge to see how well they handled it, “ said South Panola head coach Jake Mills.

“I was extremely proud of the way we came out and swung the bats tonight. We go up to Southaven and play in a game that was in the low 30’s and didn’t swing the sticks the way we would like to have, but then bounced back tonight and get double digits in hits, that was a good thing to see,” Mills said.

Junior Varsity

SP and Water Valley played to a 5-5 tie  before the varsity game. The Tigers collected four hits in the game with the big blow coming in the fourth on John Blackmon’s two-run triple that plated Caleb Lantern and Keshaun Lantern. Blaine Cosby, Wesley Wilson and K. Lantern provided singles for South Panola.

Wednesday on the Gulf Coast, the Tigers will play Biloxi at 7:30 p.m. to open the tournament. They will square off against Buckhorn (Ala.) and Moore (Okla.) Thursday, then end the tournament Friday at 9:30 a.m. against Mize High School.

Cutline:    Sophomore Dre Moore has hit the ball hard early in the season, helping the Tigers to a 7-0 record. South Panola heads to Biloxi this week for a Spring Break tournament. (Glennie Pou)