By Brad Greer

The South Panola baseball team saw its season come to an end Friday night as the Tigers dropped the second game of a best-of-three series to Southaven 10-0 in the North 6A State playoffs. Southaven took game one 8-1 Thursday night in Southaven.

Southaven (19-7) will now advance to take on No. 2 ranked Northwest Rankin in North State semi-final round action while the Tigers end the year with a 16-18 record.

 Southaven 10, South Panola 0 (6 innings)

The Chargers blew open a 3-0 contest with a six-run fifth inning. Josh Ezell broke open the game with a two-run single off Tiger starting pitcher Hunter Ivy as Southaven scored all of its runs with no outs in the inning.

Wyatt Short worked five innings on the mound to record the win while Nolan Blackwood worked the final inning in relief. Ivy (7-2) took the loss for South Panola as the sophomore right-hander gave up nine runs on seven hits in four innings. Taylor Meek and Taylor Karr tossed one inning each in relief.

Southaven got on the board in the first inning as Geoffrey King reached on a leadoff walk and later scored on Ezell’s two-out single.South Panola threatened in the bottom half of the frame as Chris Townsend led off with a single but was picked off by Short.

 Andrew Horne then reached on an error only to be thrown out at second. Chance Whitten singled but was stranded at first as Short fanned Tays Hardy to end the inning. The Tigers’ only other hit of the game would come an inning later on a Meek single.

The Chargers increased their lead to 3-0 in the fourth on two hits and an error. Nic Short led off the fifth with a bloop double before King reached on a fielder’s choice. Vance Tatum followed with a RBI single up the middle to plate Short to make the score 4-0. After a Henri Lartigue walk, Ezell slapped a single into left to chase home King and Tatum. Southaven added two more runs in the inning with a double and an error.

Ezell led the Chargers with three singles while Lartigue added a pair of singles.

South Panola took an early 1-0 lead in the first inning but could not string together any more runs off Charger starting pitcher Vance Tatum as Southaven plated five runs in the fifth to break a 1-1 tie.

Townsend led off the game with a triple then scored on an error off the bat of Hardy to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead. The Chargers picked up an unearned run of their own in the second as Tanner Cable reached on an error and later scored on a ground out.

Tatum and Lartigue led the Southaven fifth with back-to-back singles. After Ezell flied out, Wyatt Short drilled a triple to left that scored both runners. Four consecutive singles produced three more runs as the Chargers built a 6-1 lead. Southaven tacked on their final two runs of the game in the sixth with a two-run single by Cable.

Horne, Whitten and Hardy singled to account for the other South Panola hits. Whitten was tagged with the loss on the hill by surrendering five earned runs on 10 hits in 4.1 innings. Hardy worked 1.2 innings in relief, giving up two hits and two runs while walking one batter.

Despite the loss, South Panola head coach Patrick Robey said the Tigers have nothing to hang their heads about.

“Our kids worked hard every single day and one of our goals was to make the playoffs and we did. The baseball does not always fall your way and yes we made some mistakes in these two games but you have to tip your cap to Southaven. They have two really good pitchers and could go a long way,” said Robey.
“But I think our kids got the most out of everything they did. These seniors on the team are a great group of young men and they are going to be successful in life at whatever they do. They made the playoffs three out of four years and I do not know if any class here at South Panola has ever done that. Those guys were leaders on and off the field because they did the right things. Ten years down the road when they are husbands and fathers there is no doubt in my mind these men will be successful in life at whatever they do, “said Robey.