The Mitchell ReportIn sports, momentum is underrated and can’t be measured in numbers. Teams that get on a hot streak tend to win more games, like Connecticut did in last year’s NCAA tournament.
Not only is that true in post season play, but also true in the regular season. Teams get some momentum going their way and the wins start piling up faster than a honey-do list.
But there are several things that can stop a team’s momentum. A loss, obviously, can do it, but also an injury to a key player or simply not playing for a long time.
So, now that all of the scheduled games are behind us for spring break and three out of the four baseball teams in Yazoo County haven’t played since school let out for the annual week-long break.
Normally, it isn’t a week-long break for baseball players. Most of the time teams will play a spring break tournament early in the week, but that wasn’t able to happen this year for Manchester, Benton and Yazoo County because of rain.
Yazoo City was able to get in a pair of games Wednesday at the Bulldog Bash, winning one and losing the other.
The long lay-off could be a bad thing, though, especially if you’re riding an eight-game win steak like Manchester is.
The Mavericks’ last game was March 8 against Canton. They were supposed to play in their own spring break tournament on Monday, but rain forced that to be cancelled. So, the next time Manchester will take the field will be this Tuesday, a full 12 days after defeating Canton.
Benton is pretty much in the same situation, minus the eight-game win streak. They’ll be off 11 days before they play their next game, which is set for this Monday.
Yazoo County may have suffered the worst schedule loss with five games being cancelled because of wet conditions, going all the way back to last Friday. The Panthers’ last game was the 5-1 loss to Yazoo City.
How will this affect the teams?
It’ll hit some teams harder than others.
The ones that are able to keep the momentum going after such a long break are the ones to watch for in May.

On April 7 there will be a men’s basketball tournament held at Yazoo County High School. The tournament is open to adult men. There will be a $50 entry fee for each team. The single-elimination tournament is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. on April 7 and first, and second place trophies will be handed out following the tournaments final buzzer. Admission for spectators will be $3 and concessions will be sold. For more information, contact one of the following persons: Spike at 662-763-7275, Greg B. at 662-571-8812, Hazel at 662-763-8034 or Ke-Ke at 662-571-8594.

Senior Demarcus Mahone injures his right ankle while sliding into second base.By TAYLOR MITCHELL
Sports Editor

With a 9-5 victory last Thursday, the Manchester Academy baseball squad improved to a perfect 8-0, at roughly the midway point of the regular season.
“It’s not just one guy every night,” Mavs’ head coach A.J. Downs said. “It’s one group trying to accomplish one goal .”
The best thing about the Mavericks is that there isn’t one player who the team depends on every night.  One night it could be senior David Coody shutting down an opposing offense or it could be senior Ben Fouche getting a timely hit.
“We’re playing together now,” Downs said.
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Sophomore Demarco Cox (right) and the Rebels are headed to the NIT after a 20-win year.By TAYLOR MITCHELL
Sports Editor

It’s every sports fan’s favorite time of the year, as well as the most frustrating time.
March Madness has arrived, folks.
Only one school from the Magnolia State earned an invite to the 68-team NCAA tournament that began yesterday with the First Four - a series of play-in games.
The Golden Eagles of Southern Miss were the only team from Mississippi to make it to the big dance, despite losing to Marshall in the C-USA tournament. Southern Miss is the No.9 seed in the East Region, a region that features No.1 seed Syracuse, No.2 Ohio State and No. 3 Florida State. The Golden Eagles’ first match up of the tournament will be against No.8 Kansas State on Thursday in Pittsburgh. Tip-off is set for 11:40 a.m.
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