OB defeats Tigers in final inning

By Brad Greer
An unearned run in the fifth inning led to South Panola’s undoing as the Tigers fell 5-4 at Olive Branch Saturday afternoon.
South Panola (6-12) trailed 3-0 before tieing the game with three runs in the fourth that were keyed by Tripp Still’s two-run double that got the Tigers on the board. Braydyn Lee followed with a single through the left side of the infield to plate Gehrig Griffin with the tying run.
The deadlock did not last long however as Olive Branch starting pitcher Khegan Hiltz helped his own cause with a solo home run in the bottom half of the inning off Tiger starting pitcher Still to give the ‘Quistors a 4-3 lead.
Olive Branch (13-10) extended their lead to 5-3 in the fifth as Gavin Mink reached on a two-out error then scored on Myles Christian second triple of the  game.
Down to their final three outs in the seventh, South Panola rallied as Nathan Herron led off with a four-pitch walk before moving into scoring position on a groundout .
Noah Willis followed with a single to put runners on the corners with one  out before Blaine Ware lofted a sacrifice fly to score Herron, but the comeback would be extinguished as Hiltz struck out the final batter of the game.
South Panola collected six hits in the game as Willis led the way with two singles. Bowen Williams and Lee added singles while Herron and Still registered a double each.
Still gave up five runs (four earned) on six hits with one strike out over five innings on the mound. Chris Brown surrendered one hit and struck out a batter in the sixth.
Olive Branch (JV)-6 South Panola-5
The Conquistadors plated two unearned runs in the bottom of the fourth that proved to be the winning margin.
Dalton Barefoot paced South Panola at the plate with a pair of singles and two runs scored. Dawson Griffin, Anderson Wilder, Brandon Phelps and Caleb White collected singles for the Tigers.
Bowen Williams tossed two innings  before Wes Morgan pitched the final three innings.
South Panola enters the final of the regular season with a road trip to Tupelo today followed by a huge district matchup at home Thursday against Hernando on Senior Night starting at 5 & 7 p.m.
The Tigers wrap up the regular season Friday at Houston as they take on the host Hilltoppers at 11 a.m followed   by a matchup against New Hope at 2:30.