FROM STAFF REPORTS
The Yazoo City Indians hosted the Starkville Yellowjackets Tuesday afternoon at Indian Field. The Yellowjackets came away with a 6-4 victory. However, Indian head coach Gerald Peyton believes his team is headed in the right direction.
“The guys are gaining confidence out there,” Peyton said. “We just need to bring everything together, and we will be alright.”
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Coach Kermit Davis hugs Yazoo City native Jontaveous Sulton.By Adam Sparks
The Daily News Journal

MURFREESBORO — MTSU senior basketball player J.T. Sulton called it “bubble-guts.”
It’s that feeling you apparently get just before shedding nearly a quarter-century’s worth of pressure.
“It’s bubble-guts. It’s jitterbugs. It’s a lot of excitement and then relief from years of going through this,” Sulton said. “We came here to change this program, and we did it. We just became part of history here.”
The Middle Tennessee State University men’s basketball team received an NCAA tournament bid Sunday night, punching a ticket to the Big Dance for the first time since 1989.
The Blue Raiders will face fellow No. 11 seed St. Mary’s in an NCAA first-round game in Dayton, Ohio, at 8:10 p.m. Tuesday (truTV).
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John Blackledge Sports EditorBasketball season’s finest team of the year is officially here. It’s none other than “March Madness.”
There will be a lot of local flavor in the Big Dance this year. Two Yazoo City natives will be going dancing. Tuesday night J.T. Sulton and the Blue Raiders of Middle Tennessee State will be taking on St.Mary’s of the WCC in Dayton, Ohio. It should be a good competitive game.
Although he is on injured reserve, DeMarco Cox and the Ole Miss Rebel basketball team will be going dancing for the first time since 1981. With the SEC Tournament Championship win, it’s pretty safe to say that Rebels head coach Andy Kennedy has saved his job. While Ole Miss is not a basketball player’s ideal dream school, Kennedy has done an outstanding job in Oxford, and he should be commended on a job well done.
Meanwhile, down in Hattiesburg, the Southern Miss Golden Eagles got left out of the Big Dance. However, the Golden Eagles earned themselves a NCAA NIT Tournament #1 seed bid, which is still pretty decent for Southern Miss.
The pre-season predictions had USM going to the CIT tournament, so realistically the Golden Eagles exceeded expectations. I don’t think Donnie Tyndall and company thought Southern Miss would be at this point at the start of the season. If the Golden Eagles would have won a few key games back in December that would have been all the difference in the world.
As far as my picks go in the Big Dance, I have all four number one seeds making it out of their respective regions. My final four teams are the Gonzaga Bulldogs, Louisville Cardinals, Kansas Jayhawks, and the Indiana Hoosiers. I’ve got the Cardinals beating the Bulldogs, and the Hoosiers whipping up on the Jayhawks creating a Indiana and Louisville National Championship.
In the end, my pick is the Louisville Cardinals over the Hoosiers 75-72. Russ Smith will be too much for the Hoosiers. Good luck to our local natives playing in the “Big Dance.” Hopefully, my bracket will get busted if those two guys are playing on down the line.

John Blackledge is sports editor of the Yazoo Herald. He maybe reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Kurt Williamson on the mound for Manchester Academy Monday.By JOHN BLACKLEDGE
Sports Editor

A.J. Downs and the Manchester Mavericks took on the Central Hinds Cougars Monday night falling 14-4 to the guest in a non-conference match-up.
Downs knows in the game of baseball you have to have a short memory.
"You play a lot of games in baseball season, and you don't have to wait a week to play one like you do in football," Downs said. "We just have to forget about this one and move on to the next one."
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