 The Mitchell ReportI never could have been a pitcher. My dad tells me I could throw the ball by any batter, but where it was headed was a mystery. Pitching, though, is something I’ve always been fascinated with.
How do you manipulate the ball to curve or slide like it does? How does a pitcher know where to release the ball for it to go exactly where he wants it to go? Why is a left-handed pitcher harder to hit than a right-handed one?
There are a million things that go through my mind when watching a pitcher. Tuesday night, however, was a different night.
Benton Academy’s Jason Berry and Manchester Academy’s David Coody put on a pitching clinic (albeit without the most consistent umpire behind the plate). Berry and Coody combined for 25 strikeouts, including 11 straight outs by strikeouts. It was fascinating to watch batter after batter after batter walk up to the plate, take a couple swings, watch a ball go by or two and head back to the dugout shaking their head (or throwing their helmet).
I’ve seen more baseball in my life than any other sport, including football. So, naturally I’ve seen great pitching performances on all different levels. I once coached a little league team in Cleveland where my pitcher threw a no-hitter. I’ve seen high school pitchers throw no-hitters before, too. I had the good luck to watch Caleb Reed (Mississippi State’s All-SEC closer) dominate opposing batters in high school. I’ve even seen a no-hitter in the MLB by some guy named Nolan Ryan (I was there for the seventh no-hitter).
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 The Indians finished the 2011-2012 regular season with an overall record of 12-7. Team members are (seated from left to right) Roosevelt Johnson, Davari Truman, Cameron Hopkins, Jamari Brown, Antonio Brown, Leslie Nelson, Ricky Calvin, Malcolm, Ketarrious Thomas, Josh Smith, (standing from left to right) Andre Garrett, Quantravious Lard, Cory Dixon, Clintrell Green, assistant coach Darren Robinson, head coach Joffre Washington, Bryan Wade, Tyler Kincaid, Jabral Sheriff and Justin Tarplin.
 Freshman Catrina Hall had an outstanding opening game with 15 strikeouts against Ethel and gave up just one hit and two walks in an 8-0 victory Saturday afternoon in the first game of the Yazoo County Classic.By TAYLOR MITCHELL
Sports Editor
A year ago, Catrina Hall was an eighth grader striking out juniors and seniors for the Lady Panther softball team. She was relatively unknown. This season Hall will be no stranger to opponents, but if Saturday’s Yazoo County Classic is any indication, they haven’t met the improved version.
Hall struck out 20 batters in two games Saturday, including 15 against Ethel, as Yazoo County won both games 8-0 against Ethel and 13-2 against St. Joe.
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 Jacob Davis had a powerful shot to the center field wall in the bottom of the fourth that drove in a pair of runs that helped give Benton a 15-1 victory against Yazoo County.By TAYLOR MITCHELL
Sports Editor
For one at bat Yazoo County’s starting pitcher, Austin Tyson, was perfect with a strikeout against Benton’s Bo Dickerson. From that point on, however, it was rough sailing for Tyson and the rest of the Panthers as they fell to Benton Academy 15-1 in five innings Monday night.
The Raiders capitalized on three errors by Yazoo County and six hits in the second inning to score 10 runs after Jason Berry drove in the first run of the game with a double to center field in the first inning.
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 Manchester Academy head coach A.J. Downs and his Mavericks have jumped out to a 4-0 start to the 2012 season.By TAYLOR MITCHELL
Sports Editor
INDIANOLA – The first three games of the season saw the Manchester baseball team never trail. For the first time Monday night, the Mavericks trailed 1-0 to Indianola Academy. However, a strong hit by senior David Coody changed that in the top of the fourth inning as Manchester went on to win 3-1.
“We made a few errors, and we knew we made those mistakes,” Mavs head coach A.J. Downs said. “But we overcame that, got back to playing baseball and had a couple timely hits that tied the game and eventually won it.”
Senior Demarcus Mahone did his part for Manchester on the mound with five strikeouts and one walk given up. Bryan Turner, Ben Fouche, and Powell McCaleb each had two hits to lead Manchester at the plate.
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Last Updated (Wednesday, 29 February 2012 14:50)
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