Yazoo County’s baseball team ended last week with a pair of wins to get them over the .500 mark for the first time this season.
Wins over Amanda Elzy and Canton Academy allowed Yazoo County to improve to 6-5 on the year.
In the first game against the Panthers of Amanda Elzy, Yazoo County attacked quickly and vigorously.
Cameron Shaffer led off with double and scored on a Trevor Leal single. Andrew Edwards followed with a walk. Leal and Edwards scored on Ben Luckett triple. David Michael Jones was then hit by a pitch, and Luckett and Jones scored on Dontrell Green single.
All of that chaos led to a 5-0 Yazoo County lead.
They continued their offensive run in the second inning. Shaffer had single, and Edwards reached on error. Shaffer then scored on a Luckett single, while Edwards scored on balk. Luckett scored on Peyton Thrasher single, and Jones scored on Green double to make it a 9-0 game.
Yazoo County pushed their lead even further in the third inning. Andrew Edwards walked and Luckett reached on error. Both eventually scored to extend their lead to 11-0.
In the fourth inning, Dontrell Green doubled, stole third, and scored when the ball got by the third baseman, bringing the final score to 12-0.
The Panthers got a great pitching performance out of Dylan Parker in the district win, and according to Yazoo County head baseball coach Corbin Ellis, that was important to see.
“We came out swinging the bats and put runs on the board early,” Ellis said. “Dylan Parker has been doing a great job on the mound this year and Friday was no exception. Dylan throws strikes and hits his spots, allowing the defense to play behind him. He gave up four hits and did not walk anybody and struck out seven. That was a welcomed sight considering the fact we have been putting seven-eight on base per game either by walk or hit batters.”
The win gave the Panthers a 3-0 record in the district.
On the following day, Yazoo County faced off with Canton Academy in a non-conference game.
The Panthers went up in the first with two runs, but a run in each of the first three innings by Canton gave them a 3-2 lead.
In the fourth inning, the Panthers put up a whopping nine runs to extend their lead to a comfortable 11-3.
But Canton chipped away at the lead.
They scored two in the fifth and were countered by two in the top of the sixth by Yazoo County, making it a 13-5 game.
In the bottom of the sixth, Canton put up three, and in the bottom of the seventh, Canton put up four, coming up just short in the 13-12 loss.
According to Ellis, there has been difficulties all season for his team trying to close out games, and the Canton game was no exception.
“We have been struggling finishing games this year with leads late in the games,” Ellis said. “We gave up nine runs over the final three innings to make the game a lot closer than it needed to be. Canton Academy did a great job of fighting back by hitting the ball and scoring runs. My guys got a little too relaxed in those late innings and we struggled throwing strikes at the end, but were able to hold on and get that final out to close the game out. Big win for us and hopefully some lessons learned about relaxing with a lead.”
Cameron Shaffer had a double in the win.
Trevor Leal had a single.
Ben Luckett had a big game with two singles, a double, and five RBIs.
The Panthers return to action on Thursday when they travel to face Humphreys County.
The first pitch is set for 5 p.m.
