Bearden homered in back-to-back games.By TAYLOR MITCHELL
Sports Editor

On Monday night Will Bearden hit a home run against Carroll Academy. The following night, against district opponent Leake Academy, Bearden hit another homer, this time to straight-away center field as the Mavs won 7-1.
“He’s (Bearden) starting to do a lot more things with the bat,” Manchester head coach A.J. Downs said. “He’s had to take over the lead off role since Demarcus has been hurt. Will lead off for us last year and I think he’s more patient in that regard. He takes pitches and if you make a mistake, he’ll make you pay for it.”
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Darius Wright came into the ball game in the seventh inning and recorded the final two outs in Yazoo City’s 8-3 victory over Canton High School on Tuesday afternoon.By TAYLOR MITCHELL
Sports Editor

The Indians of Yazoo City got a big win in district play this past Tuesday with an 8-3 victory against Canton. Yazoo City needs just one more win over Canton on Friday night to put them in the playoffs, as at least the No. 3 team from the district.
“We’re starting to hit the ball a lot better,” Yazoo City head coach Gerald Peyton said. “I think that was the most hits we’ve had in one game. If we can keep that up, along with our pitching, I think we’ll be really good.”
Tre Richardson earned the victory for the Indians (3-10), going 6.3 innings and giving up just three singles while registering 10 strikeouts. Darius Wright closed out the game by recording a ground out and a strikeout.
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The Mitchell ReportAs I mentioned in my column on Wednesday, it’s getting really close to playoff time again. That isn’t true for just baseball, but also fast-pitch softball.
There’s only one fast-pitch softball team playing right now and they are the Lady Panthers of Yazoo County.
The MHSAA softball playoffs are similar to the baseball brackets. Three teams from each district will advance to the playoffs with the district champions receiving a first-round bye. For the Lady Panthers, the No. 1 seed is the ultimate goal, but they’ll have to fight Cleveland and Germantown, no slouches on the diamond, for the top spot.
Cleveland has a great softball program, but is nothing like it was four years ago when they won a state championship. Germantown is playing its first season, but that doesn’t mean much. They can play with the best of them. (Greenwood is also in the district, but, barring a major upset, I don’t see them making the playoffs.)
However, the Lady Panthers have one unique quality that could put themselves above everyone else in the district and that’s a dominant pitcher who throws in the 50-55 mph range and an experienced infield that knows what to do in any situation.
It’s a combination you can find on pretty much any state championship team. Now, I’m not predicting Yazoo County to win a state title.
At least this year I’m not.
In the years coming though, as long as they stay healthy, teams in Mississippi will be on the lookout for the Lady Panthers.

Head coach Grant Andrews finally got his ace pitcher back, but still lost a close district game.By TAYLOR MITCHELL
Sports Editor

Freshman Catrina Hall finally returned to the circle against Germantown Tuesday night. She allowed just two hits and one walk in seven innings pitched with 13 strikeouts.
However, it was that one walk that doomed the Lady Panthers in a 1-0 loss.
Hall walked the first batter she faced in the bottom of the fifth inning. After stealing second base, Hall struck out back-to-back batters. Germantown, however, needed just one hit and they got it with their No. 5 batter on a line drive single that scored the games only run.
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