Yazoo City’s Indians ended last week with two wins in three games to bring their win total to five games this season.
On Friday, the Indians faced Rosa Fort in a rematch that would help paint a clearer picture of their playoff potential
Heading into the game, Yazoo City head coach Gerald Peyton had a talk with his team about the significance of winning district games and giving themselves a chance at glory.
“I had a short talk with them and told them we are up here for one purpose,” Peyton said. “I told them you can’t buy back or recycle time. Opportunity for you guys to stay in the district championship may only be given to you today. I told the seniors that if you want to be remembered for graduating with a district title, today’s game will be the most important one.”
The players responded.
They put together their best performance of the season, holding Rosa Fort to only one hit in the 12-0 victory.
Jacques Gates recorded three walks and scored a run in the win.
Isaiah Jones had a single, a walk, and one run scored.
Darius Taylor exploded for two doubles, a single, two runs scored, and two RBIs.
Robert Carpenter had two doubles, a single, a walk, three runs scored, and two RBIs.
Cordarius Brown with a triple and one run scored, Les Nelson with a double, single, and 3 RBIs,
Curdarius Haymer had a single, a walk, and an RBI, while Henry Harris had three singles and two RBIs.
The win set the stage for a pair of games against Jim Hill on Saturday.
After such a long trip the day before, the Indians started off sluggish.
They gave up a run in the first inning and four more in the third inning to put them in a 5-0 hole.
But the Indians fought back.
They scored four runs in the fourth to cut the lead to 5-4.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, the Indians scored two more runs to take a 6-5 lead.
The Tigers bounced back in the sixth to tie things back up 6-6.
In the top of the seventh inning, Jim Hill pieced together one more run to regain a 7-6 lead.
Yazoo City had one more opportunity to tie things up in the bottom of the seventh, but they were unsuccessful.
Jim Hill took game one 7-6.
Isaiah Jones had two singles and one run scored.
Darius Taylor had two singles and one run scored.
Cordarius Brown had two singles and one RBI.
Leslie Nelson hit two doubles and racked up one RBI.
Henry Harris had a single and RBI.
Kory Price walked eight batters and struck out eight batters in the loss. Price also hit a solo home run.
In the second game of the day, the Indians’ offense woke up in a big way.
They kicked things off with two runs in the first inning.
Jim Hill came back with a run of their own in the second, but the Indians scored two more in the second to extend their lead to 4-1.
The Tigers were pesky, however, as they scored two in the third to cut the lead to 4-3, but the Indians put up seven runs to push their lead to 11-3.
When the Tigers scored four in the fourth inning, the Indians countered with five runs to make it a 16-7 game.
Each team was able to score a run in the fifth inning, making it a 17-8 game.
Yazoo City scored one more in the bottom of the sixth to end the game at 18-8.
Henry Harris earned the win on the mound, striking out 13 batters, walking four, and hitting five.
Jaques Gates had two walks, a single, and four runs scored.
Isaiah Jones had two singles, two walks, and two runs scored.
Darius Taylor had two singles and two runs scored.
Robert Carpenter had a single and an RBI.
Cordarious Brown had one single, two walks, and three runs scored.
Leslie Nelson had two doubles, a single, and two runs scored.
Peyton has been hard on his team this season because he sees the potential under the surface.
There have been flashes of brilliance here and there, but Peyton wants to see more.
He wants his team to be aggressive early and often.
“If we can cut down on the walks and hit like we did over the weekend, we should have a good shot at competing for the district championship,” Peyton said. “I just hate for my players to be complacent with just getting a district win. I want them to be greedy and play hard in all the games. We have to start playing for seven complete innings. We can’t continue to fight from behind. I told them this weekend that we need to start popping teams in the mouth early and stay on them for the entire game. We have to take that approach that Coach Woolfolk used to tell the football team which was to ‘kill a gnat with a sledgehammer.’”
The Indians will return to action on Thursday when they host Simmons.
The first pitch is set for 4 p.m.
