Senior Ben Fouche watches the first pitch of the 2012 baseball season head to homeplate during his team’s 6-2 victory over Benton Academy on the first night of high school baseball.Mavs’ third baseman Peyton Saxton prepares for a throw to first base after fielding the ball during the first inning Monday night’s opener.By TAYLOR MITCHELL
Sports Editor

It was a cold, dark and bitter night Monday between Benton and Manchester Academies. That was the type of pitcher senior Demarcus Mahone transformed into in the final inning of opening night. Mahone struck out the first two Raiders and forced an easy groundout to give Manchester the 6-2 victory.
“It’s always good to go out and win your first game,” Manchester head coach A.J. Downs said. “It was a big game for the kids and it’ll also build some momentum for us. We’re just going to take it one game at a time and try to build a winning streak.”
Mahone shined bright in his first game wearing the green and white, pitching four innings and giving up just one hit and one walk with five strikeouts. Fellow senior Ben Fouche, who notched the win for the Mavs, started the first three innings on the mound, recording five strikeouts, four walks, two hits and two runs allowed.
“They did okay,” Downs said. “It was the first game, so there were some nerves, some adrenaline, but they were able to settle in and hopefully we can build on it.”
Jason Berry got the start for Benton and was able to hold Manchester scoreless while giving up three hits, three walks and seven strikeouts. However, it was the pitches Berry didn’t make that gave the Mavericks the lead.
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The Mitchell ReportIt was cold out there Monday night, but there was plenty of action going on between Benton and Manchester.
The Mavericks wound up winning 6-2, however, four of those runs were practically given to them though. There were plenty of things to like from watching just one game, but also some things that should cause some concern.
Generally, left-handed pitchers find success in high school baseball and, for the most part, Berry did find success with a game-high seven strikeouts. But it was the four wild pitches (and there were more than just four in the dirt) that allowed Manchester’s base runner at third base to cross over home plate.
If those four pitches are either in the strike zone or stopped by the catcher, Benton would be leading 2-0 headed into the fifth inning.
Other than those pitches that reached the backstop, it was a great night for the pitchers. Sure, there were a couple of hits that made the “ping” sound resonate all across the campus.  In all, there were 19 strikeouts and 10 hits.
There were three hits that stood out to me. The first was by Powell McCaleb in his first at bat of the second inning. McCaleb sent a blast to straightaway centerfield that needed just another foot or two to go over the fence. Later in the game, Mahone hit a shot to right centerfield that bounced off the wall a foot below going over the fence.
However, it was Bearden who had the most interesting hit of the night. Bearden, in the third inning, hit what he thought was a home run. It looked that way to him, to me and a few of the fans in the stands. But then I saw Benton’s left fielder throw a laser to the cut off man. Bearden was doing the home run trot in between first and second when he noticed it wasn’t a home run and dove into second base safely.
People say baseball is a game filled with boredom and sprinkled with a few high-intensity moments. That must have been what people were talking about.
Overall, it was a good game to watch to begin the 2012 season. I would’ve said it was a great game, but it was too cold for that.

Head coach Grant Andrews talks with his team during a game.By TAYLOR MITCHELL
Sports Editor

The Yazoo County softball team will host the annual Yazoo County Classic this Saturday. The Lady Panthers will face Ethel at 12 p.m. and Greenville St. Joe’s at 4 p.m.
“St. Joe’s will be younger this year than they were last year because they lost several key players,” Yazoo County head coach Grant Andrews said. “But they’ll be well coached. Ethel will be better than they were a year ago with everybody back. That’ll be a pretty good ball game.”
The Lady Panthers will get their first live action this Saturday when they face Ethel after last weekend’s Kosciusko Jamboree was rained out. Yazoo County did, however, play a practice game Monday night against Kosciusko, in which they lost 8-5.
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The Woolfolk Indians finished the 2011-2012 regular season with a record of 12-7.By JOFFRE WASHINGTON
For The Herald

The Woolfolk Middle School Indians recently concluded their 2011-2012 season in the Big Black Conference tournament held at Ridgeland High School. The Indians fell in overtime by a score of 27-19 to Olde Towne in the tournament semifinals. Woolfolk, last year's conference champion, advanced to the semifinals with a 31-19 win over Germantown in the opening round of the tournament. They finished with a 12-7 overall record and a 5-5 conference record.
"We had an up and down season with some highs and lows, but overall it was a good season," said head coach Joffre Washington. "We only had two returning players with any experience so this was definitely a rebuilding year. Most of the guys came in knowing how to play sandlot, but they quickly realized that there is a huge difference between sandlot and organized basketball. It took a while, but in the end several of them made some improvements and hopefully they will continue to build on those improvements so they will carry over into next season."
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