Yazoo City High School’s baseball team finally hit their stride with a clean sweep of their three games over the weekend.
The Indians improved to 8-10 on the year with the win.
The first game of the weekend was a makeup game against the Simmons on Friday.
It was the Indians who struck first, scoring four runs in the first inning
In the second inning, the Blue Devils countered back with two runs of their own to make it 4-2.
The Indians stormed back with seven runs in the bottom of the inning to take a commanding 11-2 lead.
Yazoo City scored four more runs over the course of the next two innings to give them a 15-2 victory.
Cordarious Brown earned the win on the mound after a complete game effort. He struck out nine batters and gave up two runs.
The Indians were led offensively by Claud Collum, who was filling in for an injured Jacques Gates. He had a single, was hit by pitch, had two runs scored, and two RBIs.
Isaiah Jones had two doubles, one run scored, and an RBI
Darius Taylor went 1-for-1 with a double, hit by pitch, one RBI, and two runs scored.
Kory Price had a sac fly RBI and scored three times to go with two walks and was hit by a pitch.
Robert Carpenter had a double, triple, a walk, hit by pitch, one RBI, and scored three times.
Leslie Nelson had a single, a walk, two RBIs, and scored twice.
Cordarious Haymer had a single, hit by a pitch, walk, and two RBIs.
On the following morning, the Indians hosted Humphreys County for the first game of a doubleheader.
And it was much of the same from the night before.
Yazoo City took a 1-0 lead in the first inning, but the Cowboys quickly tied it at 1-1 in the second inning.
That was the only bright spot for Humphreys County.
The Indians put up four runs in the second, five in the third, and three in the fourth to take the game 13-1.
Claud Collum continued his great play at the plate as he was hit by a pitch and singled while scoring two runs.
Isaiah Jones had a double, two singles, scored twice, and had two RBIs.
Darius Taylor had two triples, two RBIs, and scored two runs.
Kory Price had a three-run triple, was hit twice, and scored twice.
Robert Carpenter had a double, single, a walk, and drove in three runs.
Leslie Nelson had two singles and scored twice.
Cordarius Haymer had one single, was hit by a pitch, scored twice, and had two RBIs.
Henry Harris struck out nine in a complete game win, and he also had a single.
After their win, the Indians awaited Canton, a much tougher opponent, to arrive to town.
Yazoo City head coach Gerald Peyton knew Canton’s offense would provide an adequate threat to his team.
“I knew this would be a tougher game against Canton,” Peyton said. “They really swing the bats well. The coach told me he was throwing an off-speed guy to try to throw our timing off. It worked for a little while during the game. It worked for a while.”
And work it did.
The game started with a scoreless first inning.
Canton struck first with two runs in the top of the second inning thanks to defensive miscues, but the Indians received a gift of their own when a Canton defender misplayed a fly ball that allowed them to score two runs of their own, making it a 2-2 game.
The Tigers came back with three runs in the third inning, allowing them to regain a 5-2 lead.
Yazoo chipped away at the lead with a run in the bottom of the inning, cutting the lead to 5-3.
The Indians regained their lead with five runs in the bottom of the fourth and added to it with two runs in the bottom of the fifth, bringing the score to 10-5.
Canton wouldn’t give up, however, as they scored a run in the top of the sixth inning, but Yazoo countered with three runs in the bottom of the inning, making it a 13-6 game, a score that would prove to be the final.
Offensively, the Indians were led by Collum with a single, hit by pitch, and two runs scored.
Isaiah Jones had two singles, a walk, three runs scored, and an RBI.
Darius Taylor exploded with two triples and five RBIs.
Kory Price had a single, a walk, and an RBI.
Robert Carpenter put up two singles, one walk, one run, and one RBI.
Cordarious Brown had a walk, a single, and two runs.
Leslie Nelson had a monster game with a triple, a homer, and three RBIs.
Henry Harris had a single, two hits by pitches, and two runs scored.
Defensively, the Indians had some lapses over the weekend.
Peyton believes that’s something they must get corrected quickly.
“We have to start getting tougher mentally and physically on defense,” Peyton said. “We have to say in front of hard hit balls. I am old school when it comes to being tough not the field. I did not want anything getting past me. I want my players to have the same mentality. A bruise will also for a couple of days, but not making a play to allow your team a chance at winning will last a lot longer.”
On the opposite side, Peyton is extremely proud of how his offense has come together in recent games.
“I am proud of the way we are hitting the ball right now,” Peyton said. “Darius and Leslie have gotten hot. Robert Carpenter, Kory Price, and Isaiah have been pretty consistent since the third week of the season. I think the lineup the way I have it setup right now has everyone in a comfort zone. With Kory hitting well, Darius now has protection behind him and will get good pitches to hit. Les is hitting well in the seventh spot. Carpenter is protecting Kory in the cleanup spot. This will probably be the lineup to give us a shot at the district championship. Everyone wants to be in on the hit parade. My kids are learning to be patient. They are willing to take walks instead of chasing bad pitches.”
The Indians will return to the diamond on Friday night when they travel to Greenwood to face the Bulldogs.
The first pitch is slated for 4 p.m.
