Yazoo City’s resurgent season finally came to an end on Saturday when they dropped their second game of the weekend to Caledonia in the first round of the playoffs.
According to Yazoo City head coach Gerald Peyton, Caledonia may have been one of the toughest number four seeds in the state.
“By no means was this an ordinary 4th seeded team,” Peyton said. “Their district is pretty loaded. Anyone that comes out of that district is going to be pretty good. The other teams were Amory at the number one seed, Mooreville at the number two seed, and Pontotoc at number three. They were all within two games of each other in the district.”
The series began on Friday night, and the story was Caledonia’s pitcher, Cade Stacy, who routinely hit 88 mph.
Stacy came into the contest with a lot of hype, and Peyton felt he lived up to all of it with his no-hit performance.
“This young man came in and completely shut us down by throwing a no hitter,” Peyton said. “We were just overmatched. Good pitching will shut down an offense most of the times. Our fans were yelling saying that the coach needs to do something. I was just smiling inside because there is nothing you can do at this point. When a pitcher is on his game like that, you just have to tip you your hat to him.”
Stacy struck out 12 of the 16 batters he faced in the contest.
On the opposite side, Caledonia’s offense chipped away at the Indians early, scoring one run in the first and two in the third before erupting for seven runs in the fourth inning, giving the Confederates a 10-0 victory.
The Indians pitched well enough, but five errors spelled doom for Peyton’s squad.
On the return trip on Saturday, Yazoo City was able to get into Caledonia’s indoor batting facility, and the extra work paid off in the top of the second inning of the second game when Leslie Nelson gave the Indians a 1-0 lead after a home run.
In the bottom of the third inning, errors reared their ugly head once again and helped Caledonia take a 3-1 lead.
The Confederates added two runs to their lead in the bottom of the fourth inning to make it a 5-1 game.
Caledonia’s pitcher Beau Bates showed signs of fatigue in the sixth inning when he walked four straight Indians to give the Indians a run, cutting the lead to 5-2.
With the bases loaded and two outs, Henry Harris stepped up to the plate, a swing away from putting all the pressure in the world on the Confederates.
But his at-bat ended in a strikeout, eliminating the Indians’ best chance.
Yazoo City would fall 5-2 soon after.
The Indians didn’t win the game, but they won the respect of everyone in attendance.
“Many of their fans were telling me they liked the way the team came out and played on today,” Peyton said. “They were saying they showed a lot of fight and played hard. I told them that after the game. As long as you played your heart out, that is all I can ask.”
Yazoo City will be losing a good group of seniors who played a lot of games over the past few years.
But Peyton understands that it is time to reload.
“It is now time to reload for the upcoming year,” Peyton said. “We are going to miss the offensive production from Leslie Nelson, Darius Taylor, Robert Carpenter, and Isaiah Jones on next year. We have about four or five returning starters. We will be working hard during the summer in trying to get things together for next year. We will take a few weeks off to rest.”
A lot of people helped the Indians and supported them throughout the season.
Peyton wants to thank them all.
“I want to thank my coaches Brandon Kincaid, Steven Scott, and Richard Bass for their hard work during the season,” Peyton said. “Steven and Richard are just volunteering their time and effort to help out. I want to thank the parents and fans who came out and supported us during the season. It means a lot for you to be there supporting your kids. We did accomplish one of our goals by winning the district and going undefeated during district play.”
The Indians finished the season with a 13-13 record.
