It was a long time coming, but McAdams baseball got its first win in nearly two years when the Bulldogs opened the season with a 16-1 victory over Holmes County Central.
“The kid were super excited about it,” said coach Dustin Alford.
The last previous win, March 5, 2020, was 2-1 against Leake County.
McAdams followed up the victory over Holmes Central with losses to J.Z. George 16-1 and Leake Central, a 4A school, 27-0.
Nathan Donaldson went the distance in the three-inning game with Holmes Central, striking out nine of the 10 batters he faced. He allowed no hits, one walk and an unearned run.
The Bulldogs had only four hits, all singles, but took advantage of walks and stolen bases. “We walked a bunch and once we got on base we moved around,” Alford said.
DK Williams had two hits.
“After Monday we were all riding high. We were all pumped about our first win,” Austin said. “'But we were humbled Tuesday night (J.Z. George) and again Friday (Leake Central).”
He added, “'At the end of the games Tuesday and Friday I had a lot of kids talking positively. Overall, our attitude is pretty good.”
One bright spot in the two losses was the pitching of freshman Jamarion Thompson. He pitched 2.2 innings of relief in the two games, with five strikeouts.
Jatarrius Roundtree had the Bulldogs' only hit against J.Z. George. Thomson walked, stole second and third and continued on home after the throw to third went into left field for the Bulldogs' run against J.Z. George.
It's a very young team, mostly sophomores, freshmen and eighth graders. There are several players who will be late joining the team because they are playing on the basketball team that has reached the third round of the playoffs and will go to the Mississippi Coliseum with a victory over West Tallahatchie Saturday.
“We're probably going to be playing basketball for a little while,” Austin said, and he hopes that is the case.
Freshman Gavin Brown is one of the basketball players, although he has played some in the outfield. He will be one of the pitchers after basketball ends. “He has not had any practice time,” Austin said. Thompson and Tydarious Williams will also see mound duty.
Tydarious Williams will catch when not on the mound. The infield will have Chris Harmon at first, DK Williams or Roshune Webb at second, Donaldson or Malik Roby at short and Roundtree at third.
Thompson will be in center when he isn't pitching. Brown, DK Williams and Kendarious Lusk will see playing time in the outfield.
McAdams is in Region 5-1A, along with Noxapater, Leake County, French Camp, Ethel and Sebastopol.
“Our district is loaded,” said Austin, who considers Sebastopol and Ethel the favorites.
McAdams had a rematch with J.Z. George scheduled for Tuesday and has a home game with Kemper County Friday.
