Photo: Lewisburg’s Grant Walendzik swings at a pitch early in Tuesday’s game at Tupelo. (Bob Bakken/desotocountynews.com)
The bottom of the seventh inning became the ultimate gut-punch to the Lewisburg High School baseball team Tuesday night, when Tupelo scored four times in its last at-bat to edge the Patriots by an 8-7 score. The victory clinched a three-game series for the Golden Wave and put them into a MHSAA 7A second round best-of-three series against Clinton.
“it was in our palms right there at the end,” said Lewisburg first-year head coach Tyler Scholl. “They got the crowd behind them for a couple of innings right there and it just didn’t turn out in our favor.”
It appeared the Patriots had just about wrapped up the series, having led the entire game and carried a 7-4 lead into the Wave’s last at bat.
That lead started with a two-run first inning when Cooper Bierman singled home Talon Haley and Caden Nelson scored on a ground ball out Grant Walendzik.
South McCoy cut the lead in half with a solo home run in the home first inning for a 2-1 Lewisburg lead, but the Patriots tacked on two more runs in the second for a 4-1 advantage when Nelson doubled down the right field line, scoring Andrew Hendrichovsky and Haley.
A base-loaded walk in the bottom of the second brought a run home for Tupelo, who also scored on a double play that ended the inning. McCoy hit a sacrifice fly to Hendrichovsky to score a run but JJ Hill was tagged out at third on Hendrichovsky’s throw to the base.
Lewisburg would score three more times, once in the third and twice more in the fourth, for a 7-3 lead after four innings. Hendrichovsky homered to lead off the Lewisburg fourth.
The fifth inning would be scoreless for both teams, but the Golden Wave picked up a run in the sixth when a ground ball error scored Hayes Hooker, to cut the Lewisburg lead back to 7-4 heading into the seventh frame.
The four-run seventh inning for Tupelo was highlighted by the winning run, scored by Landon Swinney. He slid in safely on a throw from first base after an infield hit by Brody Wilson off reliever Cade Sanders, a play aided by a high throw to first followed by the throw home that Swinney beat to slide in safe and win the game.
A tough loss for Lewisburg and for Scholl, who was still pleased with the growth seen by a team that was ranked among the top five in MHSAA 7A baseball for much of the season.
“I’m proud of where this team started the year, how young we were on the field, as far as experience, and I watched them mature really quickly,” Scholl said. “I’m proud of the seniors, the program that they’ve left behind them, just thankful for them and everything they’ve meant to this program.”
MADISON CENTRAL 8, DESOTO CENTRAL 0: Just like in Monday’s 5-4 game-two victory over DeSoto Central, the Madison Central Jaguars used a big inning to put away the Jaguars from DeSoto County and win their best-of-three playoff series in Tuesday’s 8-0 win. Madison Central benefited from a grand slam homer in the Monday contest and Tuesday scored five times in the fourth inning to break the game open. A pair of Madison Central pitchers also held the DeSoto Central offense to just three hits.
SPORTS ETC.: Wednesday night, April 30, before the Northpoint Christian School TSSAA Division II-A West Region tournament baseball game against Fayette Academy, a ceremony will be held to present championship rings to the Northpoint Christian volleyball team, which last fall won its first TSSAA Division II-A state title. That will take place at 6:45 p.m. ahead of the 7:15 first pitch.
Tuesday, April 29
Prep baseball playoffs
MHSAA 7A first round (best of three- game three)
Tupelo 8, Lewisburg 7 (Tupelo wins 2-1)
Lewisburg: Talon Haley-2 runs, 2 hits. Caden Nelson-2 runs, 2 hits, 2 RBIs, double, triple. Andrew Hendrichovsky-2 runs, 2 hits, 1 RBI, home run. Grant Walendzik-1 hit, 2 RBIs. Cooper Bierman-5.1 IP, 7 strikeouts, 5 runs, 4 earned runs, 2 hits.
Madison Central 8, DeSoto Central 0 (Madison Central wins 2-1)
DeSoto Central: Held to three hits in the game, Madison Central scored five times in the fourth.
MAIS AAAAA second round (best of three-game one)
Magnolia Heights 12, Simpson Academy 2
Prep boys soccer
TSSAA Division II-A West Region playoffs-first round
Northpoint Christian 6, Jackson Christian 2
Northpoint: Maverick Ray-2 goals. Trojans next play Lausanne on May 1.
